Transcendent Equinox
by snickerslv100
Summary: Harry gets an unexpected visitor during the summer between third and fourth year, and begins learning just how complicated the world of magic can really be. Time-Travel, Vampire!Harry, Harry/Cho/Fleur/Tonks/Multi.
1. Act One: Prologue

**Disclaimer: Any material that could potentially be considered infringement of copyrights and trademarks should be considered the property of their respective creators or owners and you are reading this of your own freewill, so please refrain from doing so if you don't like graphic violence, explicit sexuality, pop culture references, vulgar language, polygamous relationships, random plot twists, character deaths, snakes, arranged marriages, or usage of drugs. Of course, some of those things may not even end up in the story, but I'd rather be better safe than sorry. Also, I tend to give cannon the proverbial finger.**

**Story Notes: This is a work-in-progress plot blurb without a definite direction for the plot as of now, so I'm perfectly open to suggestions. Reviews containing constructive criticism and praise will certainly speed up the updating reviews make my ego spontaneously implode with my muse following close behind, so try and refrain from that if you can.I'm writing this to flex my creative side and refine my writing, so don't be surprised if entire chapters get completely changed after they're initially are many clichés and stereotypes in Harry Potter fanfiction because it's been around for so long; I try for originality in my own way, and will likely give a shout-out to whatever other story gave me a basic idea or concept, though I've been reading for a long time and will likely forget where something came from.**

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Lily Potter was renowned as a prodigy when it came to potions. In fact, it was the tiny tips she gave Severus over the years that allowed him to become a Potions Master. And now, she was taking notes on a never-before-seen experiment. She'd wanted to find out what the effects of potion use in pregnant women had on their children during prenatal development. So, she began taking potions that increase strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intellect, agility, and luck every night while she herself was pregnant. However, rather than the temporary yet substantial buffers that these concoctions typically come in, she brewed Everlasting Elixirs. This means that the effects are far less impressive, but they last indefinitely.

While she couldn't really repeat the experiment perfectly, she couldn't help but think that somehow her efforts improved her child. Where most infants would cry, her Harry was silent. Where most babies were unfocused, her Harry's emerald gaze was sharp. The child was only a few months old and already responded to her words as if he could understand her perfectly, and she could've sworn she saw him reading the titles of books on their bookshelves. Most people would call her crazy for believing such things. But then again, most people hadn't come across the craziness of the magical world.

The beautiful redhead scowled slightly in annoyance. This little experiment was how she was supposed to be deemed worthy of the Potter name, according to her snobbish In-Laws. They were testing her skills in research and experimenting, two of the greatest assets of the aristocracy. They absolutely had to push the boundaries of the craft as far as they could go, no matter the cost. Anything to bring more power or prestige to the family was welcome to experimentation, which is how a disturbing number of dark lords started out in the beginnings of their conquests.

There was a stigma that came along with being a member of a Most Ancient and Noble House, and they only accepted the most gifted people into their exclusive families. The more powerful families even have sections of the economy cordoned off as their territory, forming legal monopolies due to their political influence; they hold high ranking seats in the Upper Court of the Wizengamot and Hogwarts Board of Government, own major portions of Gringotts and Azkaban stock, and occupy the most influential offices of the Ministry. These bourgeoisie dynasties stretched back almost a thousand years, around the time the dichotomy of the magical and mundane worlds began.

She truly didn't care about the political, social, and economic privileges that were heaped upon the Old Families; all she cared about was that she loved James and she loved Harry. Lily huffed irately as she downed the last few drops of her wine and crawled sleepily into bed with her husband.

At the moment they were hidden away from the rest of the magical world, safely ensconced in the quiet life of Godric's Hollow. Their little cottage was protected by a powerful charm, the Fidelius, cast by the strongest sorcerer in Britain, Dumbledore. Even then, they decided to add even more protections over Harry, just in case.

In fact, they just finished setting up their greatest defense against Voldemort, and the energy expenditure was a bit more than they were expecting. And even James, the current heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter, used up his considerable reserves in setting up their little stunt. Combining the geometric shapes of Celtic sacrificial rituals with the inherent power of Sumerian runic sequences and flexible versatility of Nordic runic symbols was arguably the most difficult feat one could accomplish with modern arithmancy and ancient runes, but it was also one of the greatest forms of defense available to them at the moment.

Between Lily's knowledge and James's raw power, they succeeded in forming a customized ward localized on their son. The innate bounded field was a dormant feature, a lucky happenstance.  
_

The house on the shore was reflected beautifully across the rippling water of the nearby lake. The luxurious building was nearly as bright as the full moon floating in the sky, and was extremely well kept. Voldemort stared at his prey's last bastion with a speculative expression across his serpentine face. His red eyes scanned the yard, detecting every magical barrier, alarm, and trap that was cast on the property. His mage-sight was getting stronger, capable of seeing the latent offensive wards and manifested defensive wards. The sounds of crickets, frogs, and owls created a cacophony of noise around him.

The fact that he could see it was pretty important in and of itself. The inhabitants thought they were protected from his wrath by the Fidelius Charm, but they were sorely mistaken. They made an idiotic mistake; they trusted the wrong person to be their secret keeper... again. Thinking of the horror on their faces as he cut another swath through their family filled him with intense pleasure as he began moving towards the safe house.

The Potter child perfectly fit the description in the prophesy: he was born towards the end of July and his parents had defied Voldemort three times. After he was finished with Harry Potter, nobody would stand a chance at defeating the Dark Lord.

And now, here he was, at a small house in the middle of Godric's Hollow. He grinned as he contemplated getting revenge for the loss of precious time he could've been creating horcruxes and searching for ways to gain or create a philosopher's stone. He twirled his wand of yew absently as he began approaching the formidable property.

He moved across the yard in a random path and waved his wand arbitrarily while he chanted a long chain of separate incantations. He wanted to remove all the security measures before he entered the house. If he set off an alarm, he wouldn't be able to have as much prolonged fun as he intended. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement would immediately begin sending reinforcements to the house, and they would bombard him with curses, jinxes, and hexes. It would be a close match; him versus several hundred highly trained officers of the law.

With a satisfied grin, he finished removing all the enchantments on the yard and approached the front door. He thought about sarcastically knocking on the door, but he enjoyed the element of surprise. He pushed the door open slightly and its hinges began to loudly groan with protest. Cringing, he stopped moving and listened hard as the noise reverberated through the magnificent home. Casting a silencing charm on the door, he could have easily slapped himself at his potentially costly mistake. What if he lost the element of surprise? Then it wouldn't be as fun to commit senseless murder.

He cautiously entered the abode and heard the creaking of a mattress above him as somebody rolled over in their bed. Smiling evilly, he aimed his wand at the spot on the ceiling and muttered something. A beam of bright, white light erupted from the tip of his wand. It sheared through the plaster ceiling, hardwood floor, and mattress above him as easily as if they weren't even there to begin with. He heard a cry of surprise and pain escape the master bedroom as he studied his handiwork. Blood began dripping down the hole in the ceiling, only a few drops, and some feathers were floating down to him.

Voldemort glided up the carpeted staircase to the second floor and moved towards the master bedroom as if taking a pleasant stroll through a beautiful meadow. He roughly pushed open the door and examined the scene from his new position. Feathers from the ripped open mattress were still floating in the cozy warm air. A body was lying on the bed and blood was on the ceiling, along with what appeared to be several organs. He sighed with delight as he imagined what the expression would be on whomever's face discovered this mess.

He walked over to the body and stared at it with a giddy sense of pride at his accomplishment. The young woman had a hole clean through her stomach and her internal organs were beginning to leak out of her chest cavity. Lily Potter deserved this and far more for what she's done to him. A small pool of blood was forming nearby, the copper scent making Voldemort relish in the act. He loved blood, it's color, it's consistency…

James Potter was instantly vaporized, leaving only a bloody mess and a skeleton behind. Oh, and glasses. Voldemort almost laughed at how whimsical they looked soaked in the blood of his enemies.

Unfortunately for her, she wasn't quite dead yet. Her body was curled into the fetal position, trembling with pain. He would almost have felt pity for her, if she hadn't ruined his plans. He smiled happily at her as she stared with hatred on her face. How proud these Gryffindors can be! He reached for her and began poking and prodding her insides with his slender hands, evoking delicious screams of absolute pain from her.

He licked his lips and leaned closer to her, stopping only inches from her. She began to hyperventilate as her lungs slowly slid out of her disfigured body. He leaned back and chuckled coldly, knowing the greatest way to torture this woman. He forced his lips on hers and felt her nearly gagging from hatred. He pulled back and started chuckling at the vehement look on her slowly dying face. That was as far as he was willing to go with a Mudblood, even if he was a Halfblood himself. The color began to fade from her as he watched, the life draining away.

After he finished scrutinizing the damage, he quickly left the bedroom. He took one last look at the wreck surrounding him, tilted his head back, and began to chuckle. Sometimes being a psychopath could be so… euphoric.

Moving lithely to another room, he swiftly wrenched open the door. Shock appeared on his face for a fraction of a second as he finally took in what he saw. In the crib of the nursery was something he wasn't expecting; a blond? As far as he knew, nobody on either side of the family had light hair. He shrugged indifferently, pointing his wand at the child. About to cast the Killing Curse, he heard a dragging sound moving towards him from the master bedroom.

In astonishment, he turned and saw Lily dragging her mostly limp body across the ground towards him. In the brighter hallway, he saw she had fragments of wood and plaster embedded in her skin. She looked at him with pleading eyes, "P-please… not… not my baby…" then her arm snapped up, wand in hand, and she screamed, "Avada Kedavra!" at Voldemort. He dodged it easily and watched with satisfaction as her head dropped to the floor with a sense of finality. She used the last bit of her magic to avenge her husband and protect her child. Futile though it was, Voldemort whistled at her strength.

Gryffindors would be great soldiers, if only they weren't entirely against him.

He turned his back to the finally dead woman and pointed it at the child who continued to quietly stare at him in confusion, as if he didn't know quite what to make of Voldemort. The Dark Lord's eyes widened as he saw the hair change from blond to brown. Was this child a metamorphmagus? Uneasiness spread through the wizard's stomach as he looked at the child. He hadn't heard the entire prophesy… what if the child was supposed to join him? It would be pretty useful to have a shapeshifter amongst his ranks, but did he really need one? No, and what if the child was destined to oppose him?

"Fuck the consequences," said the evil man. Laughing, he cast the killing curse at the infant. But as soon as the jet of bright green light shot out of his wand, he felt something deep down. Was it regret? No. Was it remorse? Hell no. Was it guilt? No, and questioning his own actions was pointless! He frowned in the fraction of a second after he cast the spell. Something strange and terribly against the laws of nature was happening before Voldemort's eyes. The curse rebounded off the child and flew back into Voldemort, severing his soul from his body.

Swirling blackness surrounded him as he wondered idly where he would go next. The Locket, the Chalice, the Diary, the Diedem, the Ring or the Snake? Then his safety nets caught him as he was already formulating another plan to become invincible. Except this time, he wouldn't underestimate the incredibly powerful child that ended him. Maybe he could turn the child to his faction in a few years? And just as he began the forced journey back, he saw a tiny piece of his incorporeal form break away from the rest and head towards the boy.

His nonexistent eyes widened at what he saw. "Did I just-" but the rest of his words were lost to the wind as the active portion of his soul was sucked off into the vast unknown. It would take a few years for him to amass the enormous amounts of energy required to escape one of his horcruxes, but temporary incarceration was infinitely better than outright death...  
_

Almost an hour later, a sharp pop rung out in the darkness of the early morning. Severus Snape and Albus Dumbledore appeared in the rubble of a formerly magnificent lakeside manor. "So Tom was successful in destroying the first child of prophesy after all," said Dumbledore solemnly. If the wreckage was anything to go by, Voldemort went all out to snuff the infant's life out. All hope for the Light was now lost. Britain would undoubtedly fall into dark anarchy within the month, ruled by an evil despot that no longer appeared to be fully human.

"No!" shouted Snape with tears running down his face. "Lily!" He turned to the older man and said, "I'm going to kill Sirius," before making to leave, but he was stopped by the other man's frail arm. Dumbledore thought about how he should wait longer, for more evidence, before running off like that.

But his musing was cut off when they heard a beautiful, wondrous sound. The wailing of a distressed baby gradually grew louder as the child woke up, echoing eerily through the misty darkness.

"Could it be?" asked Severus with awe heavy in his voice. "Has Lily's child somehow survived the assault of the Dark Lord?" The mere thought of such a preposterous claim made Albus almost scoff, but the ghostly caterwauling of the child was steadily increasing in volume. It was almost as if Voldemort wanted them to get their hopes up. That was the sort of inhuman cruelty that Tom was capable of, but something told Dumbledore that his newly recruited subordinate was somehow right.

They moved cautiously through the destroyed home, searching for a baby boy. The master potioneer's speculation was proven correct as they neared a baby's crib, the only piece of furniture left intact despite everything else being torn asunder. "Merlin..." muttered the old man as he stared wistfully at the one year old. "Is that..." he began as he moved the child's hair off of its forehead. A lightning bolt shaped scar was visible, etched into existence slightly over the left eye. When his finger brushed against the unnatural pockmark, a strange image entered his mind.

"A curse mark..." whispered Snape. Dark Lord Voldemort was renowned across the British Isles for his admittedly limited repertoire of dark spells. The odds of him using anything other than the unblockable, unforgivable killing curse were slim indeed. This meant that the boy not only reflected Voldemort's spell, but it was the grandfather of the almighty evil curses, the Avada Kedavra. The infant was already quite the badass.

Dumbledore was still studying the disfigurement with keen interest, but nodded along with Snape's observations, wondering how such a helpless child could possibly survive such powerful dark magic. He activated his mage-sight, causing his eyes to begin glowing ethereal blue. He gasped in shock at what his magically fortified ocular abilities unveiled. Before Snape could even ask what was so surprising, the elderly wizard started laughing. It started off low and quiet, but gradually got louder in an exaggerated crescendo and made Snape all the more curious.

"Lily Potter has got to be one of the most gifted witches of the entire century!" exclaimed the headmaster of Hogwarts with obvious delight. "She actually did it!" he said, laughing hysterically. The sheer ridiculousness of her plan, and the fact that it actually worked, tickled the man despite the somber occasion.

"Professor Dumbledore, what's so funny about this situation?" asked Snape, startled by the man's behavior. The situation hardly called for mirth in the large man's opinion. But then again, Dumbledore wasn't the sort to follow social decorum on such matters.

"Well Snape, let me tell you something. My mentor was under the belief that the balance between Light and Dark was beginning to tip in the scale of the Dark. He taught me that I should try to bring more power to the Light side of magic, and so I began by doing something unorthodox. I began to breed the perfect Light Wizards. That's why I played matchmaker, placing the most gifted people together. James and Lily, Alice and Frank... That was how I planned to bring about peace and prosperity," replied the old man.

"So Harry is bred to be stronger than the average wizard?" asked Snape, wondering what that had to do with anything.

"Well yes, but that's only a part of it. The balance of light and dark was almost totally shifted towards the darkness today. If Voldemort succeeded, then nobody would've been able to defeat him ever again." Here, Dumbledore sighed and looked down on the crying child. "I know I'm getting too old to continue the Good Fight; maybe within the next two decades I'll be on to the Next Great Adventure... I need somebody to leave my legacy for, a way for me to leave my mark on the world long after I'm gone... Someone who can vanquish darkness wherever it springs up..." They stood in silence for five minutes until Dumbledore turned to the former Death Eater.

"Have you-"

"Yes, I've come up with a plan. A terrible plan nonetheless, but a plan all the same. Harry Potter will become the ultimate weapon for the Light, shaped through misery," said Dumbledore. "I will lead him down the hardest path. If he isn't strong enough, he will be broken, a shell of what he could have been. But if he perseveres through the pressure and heat of the life I have in mind, he will be forged into the greatest instrument of war that the Light will ever know."

Severus nearly choked on the spot. "But he's just a baby-" Of course this was only a show to ingratiate himself to his new superior. The Potter boy was a symbol of Snape's failure to bag the love of his life, and an insult to his childhood love. How she could go to the one man he hated beyond any other-

"Yes. Morality is something I've long since had an epiphany on. It seems to me that evil and good were subjective terms, their connotation entirely dependent upon context and consequences. There is, however, a definitive difference between dark and light. Dark is chaos, change, and destruction. Light is order, stasis, and creation. While the balance is tentative, I know that there's far more Dark in the world than Light. I've seen through these jaded eyes the atrocities committed by Death Eaters and Order Members alike to simply capture resources and move borders."

"But he's just a baby," repeated Snape, trying his best to get the point across. The fact that the so-called war that the old man almost lost simply because the enemy used a collection of guerrilla tactics and superior espionage skills was painfully obvious to Severus, but so was the fact that Voldemort indiscriminately tortured, maimed, and killed anybody within his vicinity when he was in a bad mood, so the point was moot at best.

Dumbledore sighed, "This war has proved to me that peace is unattainable with multiple factions, and as such, Britain needed to renew its imperialistic policies and begin conquering those around them. Only under a single flag can unity and peace be truly achieved, and anybody who gets in my way is going to be viciously kicked aside. Wizards and muggles are the same; tools to be used for the Greater Good. I would gladly sacrifice himself to further my own plans along if necessary, just as long as there's somebody left to carry the plans out."

"And that's why you're going to manipulate Harry into the ultimate weapon?" asked Severus incredulously.

"Look, I don't want to subject the child to a harsh reality, but It's something that must be done for the Greater Good. Some people are born great, others have greatness thrust upon them. Harry is both. With me controlling everything, helping him spread his influence... that will be his role. I'm fine with the boy hating me as long as he takes up the mantle at the end, squashing out darkness wherever it may sprout back up. Because that's my true goal: to vanquish the shadows that engulf this world."

The younger man stared at the elderly sorcerer for a minute, letting it all sink in. "And you just now came up with this? It seems almost as if you planned everything to create Harry from the beginning," said Snape, a small snarl hidden away in his oily tones.

Dumbledore smiled benignly and said, "That wasn't the original purpose, as I've already stated. I really don't like to repeat myself. Do you know what the Prophesy truly said?" The Headmaster sighed and continued, "From what I can gather, Voldemort and Harry must duel each other and simultaneously die. Since Harry is still alive, Voldemort must also still be alive..."

"So why did he choose the Potters? Why not the Longbottoms?" asked Snape pitifully. The one woman he ever truly loved was now dead, alongside her hated husband. It made his skin heat up, his muscles twitch, and his blood boil. He wondered if the recent rumors about the old man's sanity were true, especially since the sorcerer was putting all his eggs in one basket, so to speak. Besides, how could Harry defeat the darkness if he had to be sacrificed to ensure Voldemort's demise? Dumbledore was keeping something from him, but he wouldn't let the master manipulator know that he was in the know.

"Convenience, I think. When the Dark Lord visited the Potters first, he easily killed the patriarch of the family but Lily sacrificed herself for little Harry. Then they ended up here," said the Chief Warlock with sadness heavy in his voice.

"But if the prophesy says that neither can die while the other survives, then where the hell is the Dark Lord?" asked Snape.

"From the evidence, I'm guess that his body has been destroyed yet he lives on. Maybe he survived due to usage of a horcrux?" At the confused look on his companion's face, Dumbledore elaborated, "It is the foulest of dark magic. When you commit murder, the greatest crime against Alaya possible, your soul will fracture. You can then implant those soul fragments into something outside of your mind and body, tethering the soul to this realm. I don't know what Voldemort would treasure enough to house a piece of his soul, but you can rest assured that it will have numerous magical defenses."

"But how did Voldemort die?" asked Snape. But then he realized how stupid that sounded considering the Dark Lord wasn't truly dead, and rephrased his question to, "What caused his body's destruction?"

Dumbledore looked wistfully at the child and said, "Lily's sacrifice saved her son. She synthesized all of her knowledge into this defense. She created a Celtic Blood Ward but with Sumerian Blood Glyphs. And when the Killing Curse hit the ward, it embedded one of the glyphs into the child's forehead. This," he said as he indicated the lightning bolt shaped scar, "-is Fate/Victory, meaning that he is destined to come out of his encounter with Voldemort."

Snape responded, "She used her body's blood to tie the metaspell to her genetic code, thus extending the protection to anyone closely related to her, and trapping her departing soul to fuel the enchantment so it wouldn't burden others with the magic drain. And Voldemort, in his arrogance, thought he could break through the Ward with brute strength. She was an incredibly gifted witch..."

Duumbledore sighed, "Since the unforgivable curse didn't have enough power behind it to break the wards on the infant, it rebounded and destroyed the once beautiful home and the body of the attacker along with it. But as it struck the ward, before it rebounded, it happened to hit the rune for Fate/Victory and energized it with his magic. He has just contributed to his own downfall, giving the child a reason to hate him and a fated victory over a prophesied battle. Just know that Lily's ingenuity and her sacrifice allowed the child of prophesy live long enough to meet his nemesis later in life."

"So now we need to worry about the Dark Lord somehow getting his hands on a new body?" asked Snape.

Dumbledore nodded. "But it would be much easier to simply destroy his horcrux as quickly as possible. I vow to help Harry destroy that horcux since he's the only one capable of truly ending the Dark Lord. And after Voldemort, he'll destroy all other forms of Darkness that threaten the Light as well. I have an idea of how to go about doing that, but it may take some time to get everything together..."

"How exactly do you plan on making the child so great though? What could possibly temper him to become the ultimate weapon?" questioned Snape.

"Well, first we'll need to gain this child's allegiance. Nothing inspires loyalty like kindness and being saved, but what to save this child from?" asked Dumbledore rhetorically. "First he would require a lifetime of misery and ignorance, easily caused by being removed from the wizarding world altogether, possibly placed in the care of his aunt Petunia and her rather vulgar husband Vernon."

"You're trying to-"

"But how to justify removal of the child from magical society?" asked Dumbledore, cutting the man off. "To keep him away from fame would be a good reason, but we'd need to substantiate that claim by spreading the rumors of the Dark Lord's demise by a baby... and the first documented case of surviving the killing curse in modern history... Yes, that could work..."

"After all those years of abuse, I'll need to reclaim Harry and indoctrinate him to the wizarding world, filling in him an aversion to dark magic and affinity to Gryffindor aspects like bravery, chivalry, and overall stupidity. Knowing that his parents were in Gryffindor would certainly help things along, but immersion with the Weasleys would practically cement the kid as a prideful member of his own house. And I think we could even get the Weasleys' support on this. They're pregnent with a daughter finally? Why not promise them a marriage contract to the holder of the Potter Estate? That's quite a lot of money, though then again they are rather prideful..." said Dumbledore.

"I can't believe you'd do something like this…" said a horrified Severus. That was Lily's child! Of course, had the old man known that Snape asked Voldemort to spare her so she could be his sex slave, they probably wouldn't be having this conversation. Since he'd be, you know, dead.

Waving off his concerns as unimportant, Dumbledore said, "I'm going to apparate to the Dursley home now and placate Minerva, maybe use the deluminator to darken the street. Snape, let Hagrid know to take Sirius's motorcycle to get to Little Whinging without me helping..." And then the old man was gone, leaving the gobsmacked man alone with the most important child in all of wizarding Britain.  
_

Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.

Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."

He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again — the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the deluminator, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. It was one of his few inventions in life that actually came from his own brilliance. Everything else...

If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the deluminator back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.

"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall," he said with a small smile on his face. The most feared Dark Lord of modern times had proven to be an unbeatable opponent for the longest time, until defeated by a mere infant. It almost seemed like divine intervention in a way. The irony of Voldemort's demise made the old man's face twitch slightly in mirth. Really, it was such a random way to die... but that's what you get when you try to outfox Fate by circumventing a prophesy.

He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled. "How did you know it was me?" she asked.

"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly," he answered with no small amount of amusement. His mind however, was far away from the current conversation. He kept thinking about the wreck of a house that remained...

"You'd be stiff too if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall as she stretched her sore muscles. While being an animagus allowed her to have the same behavioral tendencies as a cat, namely the ability to laze about for hours on end, it didn't translate the inaction to her human form very well.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow in slight disbelief as he said, "All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here." In fact, he had a quick little session with several of his oldest groupies on the way. There was nothing quite like celebrating the death of an evil wizard than an excellent lay or two.

"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she sniffed angrily. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no. Even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls… shooting stars… Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent," at this she snorted derisively, "I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."

"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."

"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors." She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day YouKnow-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"

"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"

"A what?"

"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."

"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. She rolled her eyes in annoyance at the headmaster's childish antics and continued from the previous vein, "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone-"

"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense — for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort." Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."

"I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. It was almost comical, how easy it was to distract the prim and proper deputy headmistress from what she was previously talking about. And she wondered why her animagus form was that of a cat in the first place; she apparently didn't know herself all that well.

"But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of," she said stiffly. The man before her was her savior, the person that personally scared off the Dark Lord's followers when they attacked her home. Of course, her husband was already dead by that point, but it was the thought that counted.

"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have." Honestly, he saw no need to delve into necromancy, blood and soul magic, demonology, or the more esoteric aspects of alchemy. It seemed largely unnecessary to the wise elderly sorcerer; his hallowed skills were good enough to get by on.

"Only because you're too, well, noble to use them," she said, a small blush adorning her normally stoic face.

"I'm lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs," he said jovially, though he also had some underlying mocking hidden in there as well. This sort of verbal jousting was how he kept himself sharp, and got the members of the Order of the Phoenix to be more perceptive of illicit instructions.

Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore for his light teasing and tried getting the conversational topic in the direction she wanted to go by saying "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what they're saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"

It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true.

Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.

"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter a-are that they're... dead." Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped. "Lily and James… I can't believe it… I didn't want to believe it… Oh, Albus…"

Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know… I know…" he said heavily.

Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke and that's why he's gone."  
Dumbledore nodded glumly.

"It-it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done… all the people he's killed… he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding… of all the things to stop him… but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"

"We can only guess." said Dumbledore. "We may never know."

Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"

"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"

"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."

"You don't mean – you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son... I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"

"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."

"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous, a legend. I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future. There will be books written about Harry — every child in our world will know his name!"

"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"

Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Y-Yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.

"Hagrid's bringing him."

"You think it... wise... to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"

"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.

"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to-" But her objection was shot all to hell when a low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. "What was that?" she asked sheepishly. In response, the noise grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky as a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.

If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild with long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.

"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?" Of course he knew, but that was all a part of the facade they were holding up for the sake of McGonagall's sanity.

"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Hagrid Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir." Hopefully the brash young noble hadn't gone and done anything stupid, otherwise things would be getting even more complicated.

"No problems, were there?"

"No, sir. The house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol." Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.

"Is that where...?" whispered Professor McGonagall, pointing at the mark.

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that curse scar forever."

"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"

"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well, give him here, Hagrid. We'd better get this over with." Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.

"C-Could I... could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog. Dumbledore was surprised with such a strong emotional reaction from the old lug, but he wasn't really complaining.

"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "You'll wake the Muggles!"

"S-S-Sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it.

"But I c-c-can't stand it; Lily an' James dead... an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles."

"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook,  
Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.

"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."

"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I best get this bike away. G'night, Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore sir."

Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.

"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply. Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.

"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.

* * *

**Author's Note: So... was it good for you?**

**Also I'd like to apologize in advance for an occasional problem. You may notice a lack of space between italicized and non-italicized words heavily prevalent in some chapters, and that is entirely the fault of this website's uploading. I hope it doesn't turn you off or anything. I also hope it doesn't turn you on, though for entirely different reasons.**

**Anyways... ahem... this story was inspired by _Partially Kissed Hero_ by Perfect Lionheart,_ Prince of the Dark Kingdom_ by Mizuni-sama, _Mastermind Hunting _by Louis IX, _Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality _by Less Wrong, **_**Wizard of the Kaleidoscope **_**by OnTheImportanceOfLungs, **_**Heir to Dracula **_**by ZenoNoKyuubi, **_**Dakath: Prince of Darkness **_**by LT2000, and **_**Harry Potter and the Finding of Power **_**by MidnightPhoenixx. All are great stories, though some have slow starts.**


	2. Act One: Summer Break

**Several Years Later:**

The thin boy awoke with a start, his bright emerald-green eyes glinting in the paltry light of the early morning hours. His pale skin glistened with sweat as it shivered as a flash of black fire filled his room before coalescing into the shape of a black phoenix. He let out a surprised yelp but quickly covered his mouth to prevent anyone from hearing. It wouldn't be good for his health if Uncle Vernon woke up earlier than expected on the weekend. "Hello?" he whispered tentatively.

Despite feeling foolish for trying to talk to a bird, he nearly yelped in surprise again when he heard a voice in his head, "_Hello._" Of all the things he was expecting, that wasn't one of them. Nor was being woken up at the crack of dawn by a black phoenix, which was supposed to by a myth by the way, but stranger things had happened to him ever since he rejoined the magical world. Heck, just a few weeks ago he helped his innocent godfather, who had been betrayed by his best friend and falsely accused of mass murder, escape from soul sucking fiends by traveling back in time and overpowering a magical spell.

Stranger things indeed. "_We don't have much time before the next school year starts, and you need to be prepared. I need to train you properly in magical arts and wizarding politics, so that you can defeat Voldemort before anything can get too out of hand._"

"...What?" Harry asked with a heavy tone of discomfort prevalent in his voice.

The black phoenix made a sound remarkably similar to a sigh before it hopped onto his shoulder and said, "_You can simply think your questions at me. I've opened a mental link with you so that we can converse at the speed of thoughts, but only those that you want me to hear. Just concentrate on the words and I'll understand you._"

This boy was renowned throughout the world for bringing about the end of Lord Voldemort as an infant, while simultaneously being the only person in recorded history known to have survived direct contact with the Unforgivable Killing Curse. But even he knew that this wasn't a normal occurrence. "_Not to be rude or anything, but can you explain why I need special training?_ _Oh, and why exactly you're even here?_" For some reason, the phoenix gave him the same impression that Dobby the house elf did.

The phoenix seemed to click its beak at him before saying, "_I will explain soon. But first, you're going on a morning jog and beginning a physical training regiment. You need to gain more muscle if you want to survive this next year. As you work, I'm going to reside in your magical core, hidden from sight. My presence will strengthen your magic and begin slowly fixing the damage of neglect and abuse that has practically ruined your body. And you have several errands to run too..."_

It only took him about ten minutes to write both letters, and soon Hedwig was flying out his window into the steadily lightening sky. He smiled and began packing his clothes and school supplies into his trunk in preparation for leaving to the Burrow later on. "I can't believe it, a black phoenix..." Speaking of which, he turned to the midnight bird and said, "_And what is your name, if you don't mind me asking?_"

The midnight bird happily obliged by replying, "_You may refer to me as Equinox."_ It then disappeared in the same flash of black flames that it appeared, only this time Harry felt an acute sensation of warmth spreading across his chest that previously wasn't there. "_I'll always be with you_," said the phoenix, its voice reverberating through his mind. He felt a strange comfort in the bird's unusual loyalty to him, but didn't question anything as he quietly left his room. He was wearing jogging pants and a T-shirt, since there was no point in dressing up for a morning run.

As he ran, Equinox began talking, "_Oh, and before we begin, tell me what you know of the current political landscape. What do you know of the origins of British magical government?_" Harry's breath came in foggy bursts, which was strange considering it was summer time, but Harry paid it no mind.

_"Well, all I really know is that currently Dumbledore basically runs everything. And as for the origins... well, Professor Binns tends to only talk about Goblin rebellions and I tune him out."_ As he said this, he rounded a corner and came to a house that had many teenagers approximately Harry's age lying in the grass, in a tree, on the porch, and even on the roof. It was obviously the scene of a wild party the previous night, since the lawn was littered with beer cans, plastic red cups, and clothes. He spotted one of Dudley's friends snoring soundly on top of a pretty girl, and neither had all their clothes on.

At this point, Equinox spoke up, "_This is troublesome. Alright, the Celts founded the Ministry of Magic and the Most Ancient and Revered Houses of the Wizengamot over a thousand years ago. These families included the Greengrass, Lovegood, Bones, Peverell, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Crouch. Each of these families has a unique bloodline ability that can be unlocked, giving their descendants strange powers even compared to the rest of the wizarding world. Slytherin's was the most famous, the Parseltongue."_

So, if there were so many ancient families, it was actually plausible that Harry really was an heir of Slytherin. Maybe he didn't just gain his powers from Voldemort like Dumbledore theorized.

That actually made him feel uncomfortable, but luckily Equinox continued lecturing, "_The reason that they were considered for nobility was their Blood Crests. These Crests store the knowledge gained by members of the family and gets passed on to their descendants. The knowledge is cumulative, which is why the Most Ancient and Revered Houses were considered so powerful and illustrious. By now, those Crests have the knowledge of upwards of twenty generations of magical experimentation. If you come across the scion of a Most Ancient and Revered House, you would do well to avoid armed conflict because you will likely lose."_

Harry nodded to show his understanding and Equinox continued, _"When the Romans invaded, they used the many forms of magic taken from their prior conquests to easily win, though the Celtic opposition intrigued them to no end. While the Romans had access to Egyptian wandlore, Greek divination, Germanic charms, Babylonian enchantments, Arabian numerology, Chinese alchemy, Sumerian wards, and Scandinavian runic symbols, they couldn't compete with Celtic transfiguration."_

_"I don't see how the Celts could win when the odds were so against them," _said Harry.

_"Well they learned transfiguration by studying the fae folk of their homelands, beings of great power rivaled only by elves and nymphs in their ability to bend reality to their will. Since then, the faeries have all but disappeared from the face of the Earth, along with most other higher dimensional beings that had deep connections with nature. Human pollution has really done a number on the planet..."_

_"So what exactly-"_

_"Ah, right; __there was a peace treaty that led to the integration of Roman families into the Wizengamot in the form of Most Ancient and Noble Houses. These families swore oaths of fealty to a Revered family for national unity, and they were the Black, Potter, Longbottom, Weasley, Brown, etc. Most of the Revered families have died out in the male line with the exception of a few, meaning that the names are gone but the blood is still going through the Most Ancient and Noble Houses. In fact, most of your schoolmates are distant relatives of yours..."_

Harry was suddenly very glad that he hadn't dated any girls yet, since nothing would ruin the mood faster than finding out your girlfriend was your cousin. His eyes roved over the house, not sure if the rest of Dudley's gang was there or not. He was about to leave when he heard somebody yell, "Yager! Woot!" before they tripped and fell off the roof in their drunken stupor. He ran to check if she was okay, but luckily she landed in some of the shrubs that bordered the house and didn't hurt herself other than a few scrapes. By the time he reached her, she was snoring just like most other people around them. Not really knowing how to react to that, he turned and continued jogging to a nearby park.

"_Then you have, of course, the Saxon and Norman families that were added after their respective invasions. They don't have as much political influence in the Wizengamot as the Most Ancient and Revered Houses or the Most Ancient and Noble Houses. However, they have produced some families of note: the Einzbern, Elritch, Dumbledore, Volikar, and Grindelwald houses. All of which have sworn oaths of fealty to the Most Ancient and Noble Houses, and have produced powerful wizards and several Dark Lords. One of which, Gellert Grindelwald, is considered to be the most powerful Dark Lord of all time, even more so than Voldemort."_ Harry had heard of a Dark Lord Grindelwald, since Dumbledore defeated him in 1945 and in doing so ended the Second World War.

_"Are you sure? Because I've been told that Voldemort was the most powerful Dark Lord of all time-"_

_"Grindelwald delved further into necromancy and demonology than anybody else to date. He even supposedly created homunculi and chimera, formed alliances with darker gods, was in the possession of the most powerful wand in existence, and performed numerous power boosting rituals. Voldemort just killed people indiscriminately and was very good at spreading terror; he understood the nature of fear and misery better than most having grown up abused, bullied, and neglected in an orphanage. He used that knowledge to dominate during his reign of darkness, but he's still considered weak because he never received any of his family Crests," _said Equinox_._

_"Wait, Voldemort had a family?"_ asked a stunned Harry.

_"Yes. He is the heir to the Gaunt and Slytherin family lines but never received his Crests. The fact that he could actually speak Parseltongue just shows how magically powerful he was, since Crests typically unlock bloodline kept the old families safe from breeding programs to replicate their unique powers, but some of the stronger heirs could activate lower forms of their bloodlines without the help of Crests. Voldemort is a prime example of this, his magic broke through the bloodline restriction enough to allow a weaker manifestation. Parseltongue is typically much more than simply talking to snakes, but you can find that out later..."_

_"I'm surprised I was capable of using Parseltongue as well, since I know I haven't come into contact with Slytherin's Crest. Besides, I'm fairly certain that I'm not descended from Slytherin in the first place... But anyway, what does any of this have to do with stopping Voldemort? Learning about the past is fun and all, but I just don't see how this can apply to the current situation,"_ said Harry_._

Equinox scoffed at him, which felt strange inside his mind, and said, _"The best way to end a reign of darkness is to prevent it in the first place. Voldemort's followers are radical blood purist conservatives and they have connections. They can claim the majority vote in the Wizengamot fairly easily within the next few years, and then pass discriminatory laws against supposed dark creatures. Since it would appear that the Ministry is being oppressive, the dark creatures would support Voldemort in overthrowing a tyrannical system that he created for the express purpose of gaining more power. For now, your best bet is to stick with Dumbledore. Though he's actually just as bad, just not an_immediate _threat to you."_

_"Really?"_ asked Harry inquisitively. "_I didn't think Dumbledore would try to hurt me. I don't believe you." _But then again, how was he able to have such ridiculous adventures in a school? Trolls, a powerful dark wizard, enchanted chess sets, devil's snare, a cerberus, a cursed broom, a cursed bludger, an evil diary, giant spiders, giant snakes, a living memory of a powerful dark wizard, an escaped convict, a supposedly dead man, a werewolf...

Equinox snorted and said, "_You'll find out the truth by the time this day is over. But we'll worry about that later. For now, we need to plan how to help you gain control over the Wizengamot before Voldemort does. The most effective route would be to get you emancipated, which would require your godfather, Sirius Black, to be exonerated. And to do that, we'll need an investigator and a solicitor. I know some that would be incredibly helpful, plus you could potentially elevate them to noble status so that they could support you in the future..."_

He saw the rest of Dudley's gang hanging out around the jungle gym, several far less attractive girls accompanying them. He visibly cringed, hoping that they wouldn't notice him. They were still awake, and they were talking quietly with cups of beer in their hands and lit joints being passed around. Harry was about to turn around and jog somewhere else, but they noticed him. Piers Polkiss sneered and said, "Hey, Big D, look who it is." The others looked up and saw Harry watching them warily, though they appeared to be too stoned to really care. It seemed that they wouldn't be Harry Hunting any time soon.

One of the girls, who actually was somewhat cute in an emo sort of way, appraised him and said, "That dude looks familiar. Wasn't he in Primary School with us, or something?" Her question didn't appear to be directed towards anyone, and nobody replied. Harry nodded at her, but turned around and began jogging in a different direction. It was odd seeing Dudley up so early, but it was more likely that he was still going from the night before. And Aunt Petunia would likely think he was an angel that spent the night over at a friend's house.

As he continued jogging back to the house, Equinox spoke up again, "_We need to work on your dueling skills, developing your mental discipline, and maybe unlocking more hidden bloodline abilities of yours. My presence has unlocked one of the lowest echelons of the First Blaze, Godric Gryffindor's famed bloodline ability. As long as I reside within your magical core, you can phoenix-flash to any place that you've already been before. It all depends on what happens at Gringotts."_

Harry returned to the house, quickly showered and brushed his teeth before getting dressed and eating breakfast, then put his wand in his pocket. "_Alright, now how do I flash to Gringotts?"_ He asked.

_"I'll tell you in a minute, but first you need to write a few letters..."  
___  
_

Fleur Delacour was walking across the sandy beach, watching transfixed as the Mediterranean Sea crashed wave after wave upon her back yard. The sun was shining brightly above her, and the glistening water sparkled majestically before her. Her smooth red lips quirked upwards in a small smile at the feeling of bliss swirling through her perfect body upon return to her ancestral home. Sighing happily at the warmth covering her nude figure, she stretched into a yoga position, the Big Toe Pose, and blinked lazily at the natural resplendent beauty of nature that surrounded her.

Lying on a towel in the sand next to her was her younger sister, Gabrielle, who was also naked. They went starkers so they wouldn't have any tan-lines on their bodies, plus it felt rather freeing to expose themselves to the elements like they were. The younger looked like a miniature version of the older, though not quite as developed as Fleur since she had yet to enter their unique brand of puberty. "So Fleur," said Gabrielle as she enviously admired her sister's yoga pose, "I was wondering... how old were you when you went through the metamorphosis?"

Fleur sighed and changed into a different yoga pose, this one the Lord of the Dance Pose, as she regarded one of the few people that truly respected her in the world. "I was about thirteen, your age, when I finally went through the transformation process," she said, her eyes growing distant as she began reliving the memory.

"What did it feel like?" whispered Gabrielle, her eyes pleading for more details on the subject. It was, after all, a rather important event that was supposed to be happening sometime within the next year for her, just like every veela went through. While they weren't purebred veela, they still had enough of the phantasmal creature's characteristics to go through their process. Hopefully their daughters didn't go through a similar experience at that age because there was even less of their nonhuman genealogy, but it was too soon to even guess at that.

"I won't lie to you, it was very painful since I grew so much in such a short expanse of time. That much of a physiological change at once would kill an ordinary human, but we aren't exactly that, are we?" said Fleur, as she shifted to the Low Lunge Pose, her voice lilting with a jovial attitude that did nothing to bury the tension over the conversation. Sweat starting glistening across her smooth body, though it somehow made her seem more attractive than before.

Gabrielle smiled and said, "I'm scared about it, but only a little. It's just that... I know it could happen at any time, at any place without warning." She tried to sound cheerful as well, but the attempt fell flat at her explanation. The likelihood of her going through an intensely painful transformation process would grow marginally everyday, until she would succumb to her bodies urges and allow her instincts to take hold.

"That's true enough, I suppose. The only thing that triggers it is an enormous emotional reaction to something, and as a teenager the hormones in your body will be all over the place," commented Fleur as she stopped doing her yoga poses and began doing her gymnastics exercises, immediately doing a cartwheel. "If you were to get really mad, or very happy, or even too sad, you would just change on the spot," said Fleur as she did a right hand spring with a cute twirl at the end.

If any sexually compatible humanoid were around to see her lithe nude body bouncing around and jiggling, they'd likely lose their minds. Fortunately their home was magically hidden from the world.

"I just can't help but wonder if there was some way to force it to happen, or maybe to prevent it from happening altogether. I want to change, to not look like a little kid while the other girls my age are starting to leave me behind. But I don't want to go through a painful change, nor do I want to live a lonely life filled with the jealousy of my fellow females and abject obsession of the opposite sex like I'll be condemned to. What should I do?" asked Gabrielle.

The conversation was a heavy one already, and Fleur only just got back home for summer break from Beauxbatons earlier that day. The day was already coming to a glorious end, what with the sky being a veritable rainbow of color from the setting sun. "I know how you feel; I felt much the same two years ago. I decided to just force the transformation by sleeping with some guy. I don't recommend you taking the same route. I did it before I was truly ready, and my heart was broken into so many pieces. Don't do it like that, at least for me." She'd never admitted that she wasn't a virgin to anyone before, but she could tell that her parents already knew somehow.

Particles of sand clung to her dainty feet as she turned her back towards the enormous mansion that she called home. That was a good note to end the conversation on, something that would give Gabrielle pause. Hopefully she wouldn't make the same mistake, though there wasn't much more that Fleur could do other than offer outside counsel on the matter. Hearing a shuffling noise, Fleur looked over to see her sister putting her clothes back on and heading back home quietly with downcast eyes. "I didn't know," whispered the younger girl.

"That's because I didn't want you to," answered the older quarter veela. Fleur watched with a small amount of guilt as Gabrielle trudged back to their house alone, but the girl needed some alone time to think. Turning her dazzling eyes towards the structure itself, she couldn't help but wonder why she felt the inclination to divulge such information into an impressionable little girl. The truth could be a rather ugly thing, and everyone needed to face it eventually, but did she handle the situation correctly? Maybe she didn't need to throw that random fact out there, but it felt necessary, as if she needed to hand that warning out.

She looked around curiously for a stray dog that her mother, Apolline, had mentioned in a few of her later letters while Fleur was still in school. Apparently the enormous shaggy guy was incredibly sweet and gentle despite what one would expect from its mangy appearance, which reminded the elder Delacour female of her husband. The fact that it adorably liked to mischievously pull on the strings of her bikinis just endeared the dog to her mother. Apparently it abruptly disappeared about a week ago, a little before Fleur got the chance to meet him.

What she found strange was that the dog somehow got onto their property. Chatteau Delacour was hidden away from the rest of the world by powerful enchantments laid down centuries ago by her paternal side of the family. In fact it was probably the only reason that she would ever dare to leave the confines of her room with the tiniest amount of skin showing as a veela. And while the wards didn't necessarily keep animals away, it did typically repel non-magical creatures.

Shrugging her delicate shoulders at the strange conundrum, she turned back to staring out at the ocean when her stomach growled quite loudly. Her smile, which had temporarily disappeared during her conversation with her little sister, grew as she ran back towards her towel and bathing suit. She had decided, upon reaching the famiy's private beach, that she'd rather not wear clothes after all, simply because it wasn't all that necessary when nobody could trespass on their lands. And, being the copycat that her little sister was, Gabrielle quickly mimicked those actions. Now, knowing that soon she'd be treated to her favorite foods by the Delacour family's personal cordon bleu chef, Roselia, she quickly began slipping into her clothes when she decided to discretely examine her body.

Most women would probably do inconceivably unhealthy things to themselves to get a body that looked even half as attractive as hers, but her maternal ancestry allowed her to almost take it for granted. Being a part veela made her a perfect ten in appearance by human standards even on her worst days. She had long legs with strong lean muscle, somewhat wide hips that helped support a curvaceous gludeos maximus, and a flat stomach with the beginnings of a feminine six pack. Her breasts were the perfect combination of large, firm, and perky while not being too much of any. Her neck was long and graceful, giving way to the delicate features of her doll-like face. Plus she had no unwanted bodily hair growth either, which was a plus.

While her mother's side of the available gene pool provided Fleur with the sexual appeal and appetite of a veela, her father's side of the family gave her something far more interesting and diverse. Louis Delacour was a direct descendant of the famous Emperor Charlemagne, who managed to conquer most of western and central Europe during his lifetime. The fact that Charlemagne was a muggle was inconsequential to the witch who ensnared him more than twelve hundred years ago since his achievements and character were renowned throughout the world, as was his wealth.

And that wealth, while greatly dwindled over the many generations since her famous forefather, was readily evident upon seeing all that remained of the Holy Roman Empire, Chatteau Delacour and its grounds. Fleur, while putting her clothes back on in preparation of returning home, gazed at her gargantuan house in wonder of its architectural design, being both aesthetically pleasing and functional, despite having lived there all her life. If one weren't used to affluent surroundings, they wouldn't be anywhere near comfortable in the massive building.

The mansion was enormous, quite possibly the largest private home and grounds in all of France. There were beautiful marble balconies, giant stained glass windows depicting long forgotten tales about the achievements of her ancestors, and dozens of brick chimneys sticking out of the slanted rooftops. But while the outside seemed to be so big it seemed frivolous, the inside was simply preposterous due to spatial expansion enchantments. It was almost the size of Beauxbatons itself, which was a carbon copy of the Castle of Versailles.

Her almond shaped bright blue eyes twinkled with happiness as she scrutinized the place that she was most comfortable at. The grounds had beautiful gardens with exotic flora and fauna alike, large orchards teeming with untold amounts of magical fruits, several vineyards that produced high quality grapes for fine wines, stables where various equine creatures waited to be ridden, kennels with a small number of canine and feline species respectively, aviaries with various birds of prey like owls and falcons, and pastures where cows and llamas could be seen grazing day in and day out. Plus they had an entire motherfucking ocean for a front yard.

And people wondered why she seemed spoiled, but that's what you get when you're arguably royalty.

Shaking her head to regain track of her thoughts, Fleur had her flawless skin covered by a racy black bikini. She could take the chance of running into her family without accidentally flashing them now that she was properly clothed, so she entered through the still open front door. The tantalizing scent of French cuisine wafted through the house, signifying that her favorite house elf was preparing a special meal just to celebrate her coming home from Beauxbatons with a perfect grade point average.

She quickly ran up one staircase out of the thirty or so that adorned her house and quickly headed to her room to get changed into proper eating attire. Along the way she bumped into Gabrielle, who just nodded an acknowledgement to her apology before disappearing. She still needed some solitude, apparently. Swiftly Fleur entered her room and quickly changed into more appropriate attire for fine dining. She quickly headed to the dining room, where the rest of her family were already waiting politely for her.

"So, Fleur, now that you're back home, I was wondering if you'd like to continue your training?" asked her mother Appoline. Fleur grinned and nodded, making her mother smile happily before adding, "So far we've only worked on controlling your Allure, never actually delving into how to take advantage of it. Plus there's our special connection to the element of fire that we need to train, as well as our special form which has several advantages in and of itself."

Laughing, Louis Delacour decided to comment before his wife got lost on a tangent, "Also, I'd like to begin teaching you about your... _other_training." Fleur's smile quickly lost some of its pleasantness as she heard her father's words. She loved the man, she really did, but sometimes his insistence upon learning some of the traditions of his 'extended family' were wearing out on her.

"Father-" began Fleur, but she was quickly interrupted by a much more stern voice from the addressed man.

"Fleur, I love my family more than anything else in the world. This includes you, even though it may not seem that way from the harsh expectations I have of you. Its just that I don't feel comfortable with you going to an entire other country, especially a corrupt country run by blood purist conservatives," said Louis Delacour, a small amount of his insecurity finally coming through.

"I don't think its nearly as bad as you're envisioning it to be, my love," said Appoline, her kind voice taking on a tender tone as she gently rebuked her husband. "After all, we haven't even been there. Who are we to judge them without even gracing them with our presences?" she asked rhetorically, her elegant eyebrow raised slightly in a surreptitious challenge.

He gulped and turned back to Fleur before continuing, "You were three years old, Fleur, when Britain was in strife because of their prejudices, and I honestly doubt that the typical mindset of the general populous has changed substantially. I want you to learn how to protect yourself in situations where I can't do it for you, and it'll be quite helpful in your future endeavors if you decide to go through with it."

Fleur frowned and said, "It isn't that I don't want to do it, it's just that I don't have enough time to do so. Between practicing my skills as a witch and a veela, where would I find the time to learn your ways?"

Louis sighed in defeat and said, "I didn't want to give you this until your birthday, but it'll serve a better purpose if you have it over the summer." He got up and said, "Roselia," to which said house elf appeared out of nowhere. Smiling indulgently, he said, "Would you kindly retrieve Fleur's birthday present from me? It's in my personal office." The house elf nodded and complied before disappearing with a faint pop. Within moments it reappeared and he took the proffered gift from Roselia's tiny hands.

It was a fairly small parcel, wrapped in bright blue paper with a white bow. Handing it to his daughter, Louis smiled expectantly and said, "There are several rules concerning its usage, but I trust that you won't abuse this gift unduly." As those words were spoken, Fleur opened the package and peeked inside before gasping in disbelief. Her slender hand reached in and pulled out what appeared to be a necklace with an hourglass shaped pendant.

"A time-turner..." she muttered breathlessly, her twinkling sapphire eyes staring unabashed at the trinket. The glittering sands held within the hourglass were actually the crushed up wings of pixies, the weakest subgroup of faeries known to man. Ever since the discover of temporal distortion in the vicinity of the creatures, as well as the eventual quantification of such a phenomenon led to a gold rush that placed them all on the endangered phantasmal species list. So many were leaving the world nowadays...

"Yes," said Louis with a grin, "I expected you to react like that. Before I get sidetracked, I'll tell you the rules of its use. Rule number one, you cannot directly interact with yourself upon going back in time. Rule number two, you cannot change that which has already happened; basically meaning that preventing something bad from happening or causing something good to happen that previously didn't can suck you into a timeless void. Rule number three, tell nobody about the existence of this artifact."

Appoline added, "You can only use up to six hours within any twenty four hour period. This time can be used for recreation, studying spells, practicing your veela abilities, or even your father's proposed training. We know that you won't abuse it to give you an unfair advantage in sporting events or tests, which is why we're giving it to you. With the lofty goal you've given yourself, winning the Triwizard Tournament, you need as much help as you can get. The opposition will be brutal, and this will give you an edge over your opponents."

Nodding absently, Fleur asked, "You have my eternal gratitude for giving something so ludicrously useful as a gift, but why did you plan on giving me such an expensive, and likely illegal, gift in the first place? I know that, as the French Minister of Magic, you have some leeway, but this is a risk far beyond anything else you've ever done for us..."

Frowning, Louis said, "I've got a strange feeling about the coming year, call it a father's intuition. Something tells me that a major event will be happening, and you're definitely going to be a part of it. I also think it has something to do with Britain, which is why I got us tickets to the Quidditch World Cup, which will be held in Britain. We're all going to that, by the way." Nobody complained about the announcement. After all, Quidditch was a very popular sport in the family.

"We're going to Britain?" asked an excited Gabrielle, who'd remained silent during the conversation up until that point. "I wonder if I'll get to meet Harry Potter while I'm there?"

Fleur smirked, thinking about the probability of running into that particular wizard. If the strange rumors coming out of Britain recently about the sheer number and insanity of his exploits were anything to go by, then her next year at Hogwarts was going to be quite interesting.


	3. Act One: Gringotts

**Chapter Notes: Don't worry, Harry's enemies will still be difficult to defeat. Why should I be limited to Voldemort in this, or even human beings in general? *Cue Evil Laughter* There was even some foreshadowing in the previous chapter...**

* * *

Harry reappeared in the main foyer of Gringotts in a brilliant flash of black fire, the entryway bright in the early morning sunlight by now. Nearby guards leveled all sorts of nasty weapons at them; swords, maces, spears, daggers, and axes. Gulping dramatically, Harry said, "I come in peace." The goblins stared at him with their beady eyes, unsure of what to do. He could've sworn he saw one or two close to laughing at his comment. Without further ado, he turned and walked up to the nearest teller, whose eyes were following his movements just as intently as everyone else in the bank.

If it weren't for Equinox's warmth spreading through his chest reassuringly, Harry might have been a little shy at all the attention. Holding out a hand expectantly, the tiny humanoid behind the counter said, "Key?" It took a few seconds for Harry to remember exactly where the key was, but he found it after a few moments of digging around unceremoniously in a pocket of his blue jeans, grinning sheepishly at the sneer from the goblin. "Very well Mr. Potter."

"Oh, but before we go to my vault, I'd like to talk with my account manager about something," said Harry.

Rolling its eyes in annoyance, the goblin said, "Come with me." Harry nodded and followed the goblin quietly, knowing that it would be the most respectful and expedient route to take for him considering the circumstances.

He followed the goblin, who he now recognized as Griphook, through a door that led to a corridor, that anticlimactically led to another door. And as they walked through the hallway to an office, Equinox said, "_Alright, now when you're in there, ask for an inheritance test, and a transaction summary of all accounts you currently own. If I'm right, then you'll be quite angry with Albus Dumbledore…"_

The goblin ran his claw down the length of the door, which was made of some black material, and it swung open to admit them. Harry entered the room beyond, but Griphook turned and left with a slight grin on its face. The door closed quietly behind him, but his attention was largely taken up by the room and didn't even notice. There were all sorts of priceless works of art scattered about the enormous room, statues and weapons of precious metals were tastefully placed in good spots all over the walls. And enormous desk was facing the door that he just entered through, and a fireplace was glowing merrily just behind it.

Sitting at the desk was a goblin that wore golden armor and a red cape, giving off an air of royalty and wealth that Harry doubted most humans could afford. Before he could stop himself, he said, "Nice office." The goblin didn't seem to be expecting such a blasé statement from the thirteen year old, and let out a gruff bark of laughter.

"Indeed Mr. Potter. How can I be of service to you?" asked the goblin.

"There are actually quite a few things we need to discuss. But before I say anything, you must swear a magical oath to never reveal these secrets to anybody unless I say otherwise. Is that agreed upon?" asked Harry mildly.

The goblin chieftain peered at Harry, as if this were the first time he'd ever properly seen a human. He smiled grimly and said, "That's a wise precaution. Most of your kind just assume that there's a confidentiality agreement between us, but if they haven't made a binding magical contract, there's nothing to keep me from blabbing their secrets. Very well. I, Ironhide of the Sabreclaw Clan, pledge my magic not reveal your secrets to anyone else unless you deem otherwise."

Harry nodded and said, "So mote it be." There was a brief flash of light that illuminated the lavishly decorated office before they looked at each other again.

Repeating himself, Ironhide said, "What is it that you'd like to discuss first?"

"Since you are the Financial Overseer of the Potter Family Vault, I'd like to get a transaction summary for the past ten years. It has come to my attention that there may have been some misappropriations of funds. If that is the case, I'd like to fix it."

The goblin pulled out a sheet of paper almost instantaneously and said, "The steward of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter is Albus Dumbledore, since his family has sworn fealty to yours. He has been making suspicious withdrawals from the Potter Family Vault with impunity due to his legal rights as steward, and he's been using that money for unknown purposes. He hasn't been able to take anything other than liquid assets, so family heirlooms are still intact in your vault However, almost all of the gold that once resided in your family's main vault is now gone."

Harry was stunned, but Equinox began, "_And he has done so much more! He used his influence as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot to prevent Social Services from checking in on you from time to time, and refused to place you in foster care. You've been living in the custody of your abusive and neglectful aunt and uncle for the past thirteen years, and have only now been able to get out of it because of Hogwarts. He wanted you to be so craving of attention and love that he could manipulate you into being loyal to him! But that comes in later_."

It didn't seem like it was going to stop any time soon, and the goblin continued, "As the steward of House Potter, he can appoint whoever he wants to our Wizengamot seat, and he chose one Severus Snape. That means that Snape has been using the Potter Family's influence on legislative and judicial practices for the past decade. And with Snape being Dumbledore's lackey, he always had the vote of at least one Most Ancient and Noble House on his side."

Harry clenched his jaw, feeling _anger_ at his headmaster. Deciding to change the subject so that he wouldn't explode, he said, "And now onto the next important issue, my inheritance. I would like to take a blood inheritance test, to prove exactly which Houses and Vaults truly belong to me." Goblins had been dealing with humans for centuries, and were taught at a young age how to discover deception, or emotions in general, in the remarkably easy to read faces of most humans and use that to manipulate the situation to their advantage. That being said, it was an uncommon occurrence for a chieftain like Ironhide to emulate his human customers. Dumbledore would be a hard enemy to beat even if they were on equal ground.

At that moment, as if he somehow knew beforehand what Harry was going to ask for, Griphook entered with the Inheritance Testing Parchment and a Ritual Dagger. Knowing what to do, Harry sliced open his palm and let a few drops fall onto the parchment before anybody could even give him instructions. As the blood landed on the parchment, words began to form:

_Harry James Potter is the rightful heir and sole beneficiary of the following:_

_The Most Ancient and Revered House of Peverell__  
__The Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter_

_Harry James Potter is the bloodline heir to the following:_

_The Most Ancient and Revered House of Gryffindor__  
__The Most Ancient and Revered House of Slytherin_  
_The Most Ancient and Revered House of Peverell_  
_The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black_  
_The Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter_

_Harry James Potter can lay claim to the following noble houses:_

_The Most Ancient and Revered House of Slytherin__  
__The Most Ancient and Noble House of Malfoy_  
_The Most Ancient and Noble House of Lestrange_  
_The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black_  
_The Most Ancient and Noble House of Gaunt_

_Harry James Potter has marriage contracts with:_

_The Most Ancient and Revered House of Greengrass__  
__The Most Ancient and Revered House of Lovegood_  
_The Most Ancient and Revered House of Bones_  
_The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black_

The account manager stared in surprise at the parchment, seemingly stupefied by sheer disbelief. Ironhide continued with awe in his voice, "Well that was unexpected…" Seeing Harry's blanks stare, the goblin continued, "You do understand the significance of this?"

"Not really. I don't really know what the difference is between each of those, but I can guess. By being the sole beneficiary, I'm now considered the scion of Peverell and Potter automatically and likely have access to all of their estates?" asked Harry.

"There's more to it than that," said Ironhide. "As the scion, you have the right to both Family Crests, which will fully awaken your bloodlines from them. However, you can't access your vaults without explicit permission from your guardian since you're underage, which is a bit of a sticky situation with you at the moment. Since your Ministry guardian is Albus Dumbledore, but your rightful guardian is Sirius Black, and you've been living with Vernon Dursley... this is a fairly complicated ordeal at the moment."

"So I can't access my funds without alerting Dumbledore, whose been stealing from the Potter family... He can't steal from the Peverell Family Vault, can he?" asked Harry in desperation. There might be a way, what with the old man being his legal guardian and steward of his family...

"Nobody can even enter the Peverell Family Vault unless they've gained the allegiance of the family's three greatest treasures: the Cloak of Invisibility, the Resurrection Stone, and the Elder Wand, not even you. Just because you're the rightful heir doesn't mean that you can access anything, it just means that you have the potential to. You must control the modernly christened Deathly Hallows in order to fulfill the criteria needed to enter that vault, which is actually where the Peverell Family Crest is hidden."

"And I'd need the Crest to awaken their bloodline, and gain their knowledge?" asked Harry. This was quite the obstacle, but he felt confident that he'd be able to find the three objects. How difficult could it possibly be to locate and control the Deathly Hallows?

"Technically you could potentially awaken a lower form of their bloodline through sheer force of magic or trauma, but I wouldn't recommend it. You can, however, access the Potter Family Vault presently and accept the Potter Family Crest," replied Ironhide.

"By the way, what are the bloodline abilities of the Potter and Peverell families?" asked Harry curiously.

"The Peverell Family had something called the Eyes of Misery, which could be upgraded to the Eyes of Agony. What all they do is currently a mystery, but they are renowned for giving the Peverell brothers almost unmatched knowledge of magical theory and combat. The Potter Family is renowned for having special gifts in the mental arts, though what exactly that entails is currently unknown," said Ironhide. Seeing Harry's annoyed face, Ironhide continued, "The old families kept their greatest abilities a secret so nobody could exploit any of their weaknesses, due to a misbegotten sense of paranoia."

Harry nodded and asked, "So what about the fact that I'm a bloodline inheritor of certain families? What exactly does that mean?"

"It means that you have the potential to unlock the bloodline abilities of those families, either through force or contact with their Crests. However, since you aren't the scion of those families, you cannot access the knowledge stored on the Crest, only awaken your bloodline. Otherwise, everybody would use everyone's Crests to gain unlimited knowledge and power. However, if you were to become the head of another noble house through marriage or fealty, you could gain access to a portion of the Crest's knowledge."

"And the families that I'm a blood inheritor to that we haven't already discussed, Gryffindor and Black, what are their bloodline abilities?" asked Harry with a small tilt of curiosity to his head.

"The Black family has produced many accomplished metamorphmagi in the past, capable of even changing their muscle memories or skeletal density at a moment's notice. Without the Black Family Crest, you won't be able to do anything so drastic, but you could alter your hair or maybe eyes if you concentrated hard enough. As for Gryffindor... well, the First Blaze is largely a mystery just like the Peverell bloodline, but it is known to give power over the element of fire and up to phantasmal creatures with an affinity for fire."

_"Phantasmal creatures?"_asked Harry mentally. His mental projection was unnoticed by Ironhide, which was a good thing.

_"Magical beasts are separated into several different categories: monstrous beasts are the weakest and stupidest, phantasmal creatures are considerably more powerful and actually sentient, and divine beasts are beyond human comprehension, like myself. All are mythical and supernatural creatures from human folklore. They gained form when ancient humans invented monsters, demons, angels, gods, and other similar things to explain natural phenomenon that they didn't understand, or to prevent children from going to dangerous places. This fostered belief in the entities, and the magic residing in those people reacted to that belief, forming the very creatures they made up in the first place out of magic," _replied Equinox.

_"I did not see that coming," _said Harry. "So anyways, what does it mean when it says that I can lay claim to another family? I don't understand what that means..."

Ironhide nodded and said, "If there is a grievance against you by the scion or head of an opposing noble family, then there will be dire consequences. If a magical oath is uttered and not carried through, then the perpetrator must be punished. It says here that the scion of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Malfoy challenged you to a wizard's duel and forfeited, giving you his honor and allowing you to lay claim to the Malfoy Estate in its entirety."

Harry frowned and asked, "What about the Slytherin, Gaunt, Lestrange, and Black families?"

"It seems that an assassination attempt by the last scion of both Slytherin and Gaunt, the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, gave his honor to you as well. As for the Lestrange Family, their estate was basically assimilated into the Malfoy Estate when the head of the family was incarcerated in Azkaban, so you automatically gain their property by proxy of the Malfoys' should you win the lawsuit. And it seems that the last Lord Black, Sirius Black, made a promise to your parents to raise you, yet didn't fulfill that promise. Of course, there are extenuating circumstances..."

"You mentioned something about a lawsuit?" prompted the raven haired boy.

The goblin accountant nodded and said, "It is standard procedure for such claims to be presented as a case to the Wizengamot as a whole. There will be prosecutors, witnesses, a jury, a judge, the whole shebang. If you win, everyone will know what the opposition did to you, what their punishment was, and that you won't put up with slights against your families' honor any longer."

"Can't lawsuits go either way though? What happens if I lose?" asked Harry, not knowing if he even really wanted to know the answer.

"The spoils of war go to the victor, as they say. If you lose, your estate will be forcibly seized from you and handed to the winner of the case. I'm pretty sure the Malfoys would likely win since you can't access your vault to procure funds as a minor, nor can you hire a solicitor without the consent of your guardian. And while I think Dumbledore would gladly try to take capital from the Malfoy family, he wouldn't really want it going to you either. Plus the old man could simply take it from you as the steward of House Potter."

Harry sighed and said, "So most of the Potter fortune has been legally stolen by Dumbledore, and I can't access the Peverell fortune. I could gain the Malfoy and Lestrange fortunes by beating Lucius Malfoy in a lawsuit, but that would require money, and I could take my godfather's account but don't want to because he's nice to me... how much is in the Gaunt and Slytherin estates?"

"Both are practically empty, cleaned out long ago by the inbred purebloods who didn't seem to care about the next generation," replied Ironhide dryly.

"So where exactly does that leave us?" asked Harry.

"Essentially back to square one, but you do have the rights of a Most Ancient and Revered House, so things will be going easier for you. However, as a minor you still can't really do a whole lot by yourself. You need the permission of a steward to make noble decisions because you're underage, and the permission of a guardian to do anything as a citizen for the same reason. In a nutshell, you either need to get emancipated or become an adult to do anything..."

Harry sighed, wondering how this could happen. He was feeling oppressed for not having freedoms that he wasn't even aware of a day earlier! Feeling incredibly weird, Harry said, "That's really all that I can think of, so I'll be going to my vault now." Ironhide nodded his consent and followed Harry out, returning back to the majestic entryway.

The unlikely duo quickly piled into one of Gringotts's infamous carts and took off incredibly quickly into the catacombs and caverns. Cold wind whipped past them as they zoomed along the track, cutting into Harry's face and eyes. Torches that occasionally were ensconced on the rocky walls seemed like blurry lines of bright orange, and at one point, though it was hard to tell due to the sheer speed of their movements, Harry could've sworn they did a loop-de-loop. "I can never remember what the difference is between a stalagmite and a stalactite," Harry said to Ironhide. He'd said much the same thing to Hagrid all those years ago, and wanted an answer this time.

"That's cool," was Ironhide's curt response. Harry was somewhat annoyed to again be denied such an insignificant nugget of fact, but didn't say anything. To Harry, who hadn't ridden through Gringotts in over three years, it wasn't anywhere near as invasive as he remembered it being. Though if he really thought about it, his partaking in an extreme sport involving broomsticks and bludgers might have been one of the reasons he was so calm about plunging into darkness at breakneck speeds without so much as a seat belt.

The journey stopped relatively quickly and they were already at the Potter Vault. The goblin jumped out, ran his finger affectionately over the door, and stepped back as the enormous stone doors creaked open. This wasn't the family vault itself, just his trust fund. Ironhide handed him a pouch and said, "This Mokeskin pouch can hold up a hundred times its own volume. Take only a thousand galleons, since that's your yearly allowance as instructed by your Ministry approved guardian for this vault, so spend it well."

The Mokeskin pouch had a Widening Lip, an Undetectable Extension Charm, a Notice-Me-Not charm, and a settable password. He looked at the Mokeskin pouch and said, **"Equinox" **in parseltongue to set a password for it too. It glowed green before closing. He smiled, knowing that he could hide almost anything he wanted in such a small thing. "_I agree with your choice,"_ said Equinox. Whether the phoenix was talking about using a parseltongue password or choosing its name as a password, Harry didn't know.

"Ministry approved?" said Harry, picking up where he faded out, "You said that with some disdain, as if they weren't correct in the matter," said Harry. "I know we broached the subject earlier, but we kind of went off on a random tangent..."

"Oh, the Ministry aren't ever correct in these matters. According to Gringotts protocol, your actual guardian is Sirius Black, not Albus Dumbledore," said Griphook. At those words, Harry discovered yet another thing that the old man was controlling about his life. "He can overrule your 'Ministry approved' guardian's decisions regarding strictly your economic state. However Dumbledore basically controls everything else about your life. If Lord Black hadn't been serving a lifetime sentence in Azkaban, you wouldn't be subjugated by Dumbledore. You see, he's still your guardian because your parents named him as such in their wills, and the magic connecting you to him wasn't severed because he was never given a trial. Because of the same clause, he is also still considered 'Lord' Black..."

"Wait, wouldn't Dumbledore have known Sirius never got a trial if Gringotts didn't accept him as my guardian?" asked Harry with a growing sense of horror. Ironhide nodded and pointed at the open vault door, conveying the message, 'Please withdraw your money quickly.' Annoyed, Harry did as he was implicitly instructed.

Harry nodded and hesitantly scooped a small pile of gold into his bag, which expanded its mouth hungrily to eat the coins. Sometimes magic was plain weird. "That pouch also has several security measures on it. You are the only person that can deposit or withdraw money from it, and only you can even notice it. To everyone else it is simply invisible," said Ironhide. Nodding happily with what the goblin said, Harry jumped back into the cart. They were soon on their way to the Potter vault to search for some heirlooms or something.

"You don't need to stay here with me," said Harry as they blasted down the rickety tracks. "I've got an alternative mode of travel that will get me back home once I'm done with my vault." They passed by a firebreathing dragon and pretended not to notice, coming to a stop before a massive door of black metal.

"It's Stygian Iron, capable of negating magic for defensive purposes and severing souls for offensive purposes," said Ironhide as he noticed Harry's wondering gaze. "It's supposedly mined and forged in the Greek Underworld and cooled in the River Styx, making it practically indestructible." The giant door at carved lines all over it, and Ironhide continued, "You need to offer it a blood sacrifice to open it, as it's keyed only to your blood..." Harry just wiped the cut from his previous inheritance test on the door, appeasing it.

The giant door swung open with a screeching his, quite slowly. Crossing the threshold felt like walking through pure magic to Harry, which was likely the case. Once on the other side of the door, he stopped dead. There was a small pile of gold in the center of the enormous room, the only remaining gold after all these years of Dumbledore's treachery. He noticed piles of other things around the room too, but it was all rather lackluster. There were enchanted weapons and armor, eggs of magical creatures, and books of spells strewn haphazardly all over the place.

Right in front of him was a magical chest made of dragon scales. It didn't appear to have a lock, or any discernible way to open it, so Harry shrugged and approached it. The chest slid toward him and he nearly had a heart attack from the sudden movement.

It opened of its own accord, and Equinox commented, "_It seems to have an Undetectable Extension Charm on its insides, making it the size of a small house. And its password protected, and you can set the password to any language." _Harry knew what Equinox wanted him to do again. He looked at the trunk and, after imagining that there was a snake nearby, said **"Equinox"**. The trunk was then set to his new parseltongue password, and it began following him around the compound.

While there were tons of things in there, he found disorganized messes of weapons, armors, and books strewn everywhere. "I guess my forefathers weren't much for organizing," said Harry with disdain.

_"It looks more like the place was ransacked,"_said his avian familiar, _"likely by the old man..."_ He growled and began systematically walking through each and every room, picking up anything that he found interesting and placing it in his new Mokeskin Pouch. The vast majority of the things he picked up was, surprisingly, books. Subjects that he found interesting were Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Dueling, Mental Arts, Bloodline Abilities, and Wizarding Politics.

"Where is the Potter Family Crest..." muttered Harry. Then it dawned on him that it was likely stolen, considering the current condition of the vault. "That bastard stole my Crest," said Harry in shock. He felt queasy on the inside, like it was his fault that it was gone, even though he didn't know about it until earlier that morning. "When I find that fucker..." was all Harry could say.

Deciding that he was finished looking through the vault for anything useful, Harry took a few minutes to calm down before he mentally said, _"Alright, what should we do now?"_

_Equinox said, "Now, I think you should get a proper deuling instructor from Knockturn Alley..."_

* * *

**A/N: I'll go more in-depth on supernatural entities later on.**


	4. Act One: Knockturn Alley

Deciding that he was finished looking through the vault for anything useful, Harry took a few minutes to calm down before he mentally said, _"Alright, what should we do now?"_

Equinox said, "_Now, I think you should get you a dueling instructor from Knockturn Alley-"_

But Harry cut the bird off, _"I've been to Knockturn Alley before, and I know that its filled with dark creatures and wizards. There's no way I'm going there, though I am curious about why you want me to go there. Should I not trust you any longer too?"_He shivered and remembered the disastrous first attempt at using the Floo, and the subsequent adventure involving the Malfoys and Hagrid saving him from certain doom.

_"... you_ need _a proper instructor, because sticking to Hogwarts curriculum could easily get you killed. You have way too many enemies to not start learning as soon as possible._" Well when the phoenix put it like that... _"I actually know of someone that could help. I heard about him through the grapevine, if you will. He's powerful, and isn't a supporter of Voldemort, Dumbledore, the Ministry, or anyone else. He's his own entity, though he is part of a noble house..."_

Harry nodded in defeat and set off for the mysterious man in the seedier part of the shopping district, hoping that none of the hags, vagabonds, thieves, drug dealers, pimps, or whores were going to give him any trouble. Luckily none did, and he arrived at a dumpy looking shop entitled, "Belmont's Place." Feeling somewhat foolish, he entered the place and looked around.

There were shelves all over the place filled with everything from books to broomsticks to wands. There was a single man standing behind the counter, his skin deathly pale, his hair and eyes bright red, and his smile revealing slightly sharper than normal teeth. He was obviously a vampire.

"And what would a child like you want with this place?" asked the man, presumably Belmont. His eyes were seemingly staring into Harry's soul, but Harry felt himself getting annoyed at being called a child. After slaying a dark lord, a Basilisk, and over a hundred dementors at once, Harry wasn't going to put up with crap anymore. But before he could even defend himself, the man continued, ""I doubt one as innocent as yourself could even ingest one of my unholy concoctions, let alone live through it." And then the man's nostrils flared as he seemingly breathed in Harry's scent. His eyes widened and he said, "But then again, you are no ordinary child. Tell me, what do you know of Scholomance?"

Harry frowned, wondering what the man meant by 'unholy concoctions' and said, "I think it was briefly mentioned once in a history book that I had to read a few years ago... isn't it a magical school in Transylvania that teaches the dark arts? I've heard that Satan himself is their teacher, but that's obviously not true. I mean, none of that stuff is true, is it?" His voice became noticeably unsure towards the end of that statement.

The man smiled in an evil way, as if he knew that this would ruin the boy's world views. "Let me tell you something: all of the polytheistic and monotheistic pantheons exist in some form or another." His words made Harry shiver, since it went along with what Equinox said about phantasmal creatures earlier and implied that the man actually was taught magic by _Satan_.

Harry gulped rather loudly, and the man's answering grin made his fangs more apparent. The man smiled and said, "But we're getting a bit off topic. I mentioned Scholomance because I am a graduate of that school. You were correct in that it teaches the dark arts, but we also learned the secrets of wandlore and dueling as well."

"So you're a dark wand making duelist champion?" asked Harry. '_Equinox, what have you gotten me mixed up with?_' He felt the bird just laugh at him. Harry sighed and said, "Well, I was hoping for a tutor of sorts since I'm constantly getting into the wrong sort of trouble, but now I'm not too sure..."

The man scrutinized him and said, "I'd be willing to make a new wand for you for about five hundred galleons if you want, though I seriously doubt you'd want me as a tutor."

"Five hundred galleons?" shrieked Harry. "Ollivander's Wandshop sells wands for only eleven!"

"Ollivander's Wandshop has subsidized and regulated building materials, not to mention government policy lowering the price of wands for first year Hogwarts students. If you weren't going to Britain's premiere school, buying your first ever wand, or wanted a wand with some power behind it, then you'd be paying a lot more at that place. The discriminatory practices of the British Ministry against those of the lower caste have made it easier for nobles to get started in practicing magic, and nearly impossible for average muggleborn to as well," finished the man.

"What do you mean? I haven't noticed any discrimination, except against some of the muggleborn students by Slytherins..." Harry's question tapered off as the man scrutinized him even further.

"You're too innocent for your own good. How do you think there are so many magical adults in Britain while there are only about three hundred students in Hogwarts at once? There are lesser schools, where most muggleborns and poor children go, or where halfbreeds and squibs go. Did you know that only those of noble birth, substantial wealth, or prodigious ability are allowed in Hogwarts? The only reason that elitist school has as many muggleborns as it does is because of a government quota forcing there to be at least five allowed in each year."

"Um..." said Harry, not entirely sure as to how to reply to that. "You said something about a wand?" asked Harry.

"Precisely! I'm a craftsman on a level you can't imagine. The longer I take making your wand, the higher quality it will be. You won't have to pay until I'm finished, so don't worry about that." The guy pulled out a box and said, "You're going to be a tricky customer since you've got incredibly large magical reserves."

"Great, another thing keeping me from having a sense of normalcy," said Harry sarcastically.

Smirking somewhat, the man continued, "Now, tell me which of these items calls out to you." Harry nodded and reached his hand forward, feeling weak and strong tugs on his magic from the various things. He pointed at three stringy things that he felt the greatest tug from, one of which he recognized as a phoenix feather.

"Rather than using that feather, though-" began Harry as he called out to Equinox. The phoenix responded by flashing into the room in a burst of black fire, making the man's eyes widen in surprise. "-I'd like to use a feather from my familiar." A black phoenix was the subject of myths and legends, believed to be a hoax by most. But a black phoenix it was, and it responded to his calls. The man behind the counter wondered if maybe it was because the boy was a descendant of Gryffindor, and inherited the First Blaze. He would ask about it later, but right now he was too shocked to really do much of anything.

The man licked his lips hungrily and said, "The First Blaze... Yes, I can't wait to use one of its feathers..." In answer, a single black piece of plumage fell off of the mighty bird and landed in his hands. "So a thestral hair, basilisk heartstring, and a midnight phoenix feather... I'm going to magically reinforce the ingredients of your wand's magical core by saturating the thestral hair in unicorn blood for two blood moons, and the Phoenix feather with Phoenix tears from the summer solstice to the winter solstice, since this already has potential to be truly powerful. Now to decide on the external structure..."

The wandmaker put away the box and said, "But fresh ingredients would be the best. I've got no new Basilisk heartstring, and I don't want to use magically inferior specimens for a depreciated product. But I don't know where any recently killed Basilisk would be..."

Harry, upon hearing the man's muttering, said, "Would one killed around a year ago be fresh enough?"

That caught the man's attention, and he replied, "The last Basilisk discovered was killed centuries ago. The single heartstring that I have is worth more than almost everything else in the shop combined. One killed last year would still be saturated with dark magic and its venom, making it just as fresh as the day it died. This would make it even more valuable, but there would also be the matter of scarcity. The meat, bones, hide, scales, venom glands, organs, skin, eyes... I get the feeling that you killed one a year ago, otherwise you wouldn't have mentioned something so specific. How large was it, and where was it?"

Harry said, "Approximately sixty feet long. Its in the Chamber of Secrets under Hogwarts. I killed it with the Sword of Gryffindor and the help of a phoenix named Fawkes."

The man looked at him. "You definitely have the First Blaze, otherwise you wouldn't be able to summon a phoenix to you, or wield that blade. But how did you get into the Chamber of Secrets in the first place? I thought only a heir of Slytherin could access that place, which logically means a Parseltongue... How many powerful families are you the heir to, young man?"

Harry smiled and mysteriously said, "A few. So, would you like to help me recover its body and begin selling it?"

The man nodded and said, "Of course I would, for a fee. Of course, money likely wouldn't matter to a heir to multiple Founders," he noticed Harry wince at that statement, but continued on regardless, "-but I will try to get you the best possible results. The sooner you take me to the Basilisk, the sooner I can make you an incredibly powerful wand. Before we go, I'll need to let my employer know that I'm leaving."

"But of course," said Harry. Equinox disappeared in another burst of black flames, and Harry felt the warmth spreading through him again.

The redhead called out, "Simon! I'm going on a short expedition with a customer, and potentially even a future student of mine!"

They heard a distant voice call out, "Alright Durza. Try not to lose control, okay?" So maybe Harry was wrong in presuming the man was the owner. It didn't really matter at this point. Though he did smile when he heard the comment about him being a potential student.

Durza grumbled in annoyance at the slight, whatever it meant. Harry quickly grabbed him and phoenix-flashed them to the Chamber of Secrets. All the while, he thought about how he was going to use any excess money to help Fred and George get their joke shop off the ground, and maybe donate a bunch of top tier brooms to the various Quidditch teams of Hogwarts. Maybe not Slytherin though.  
_

_Dear Mrs. Weasley,_

_I know that I'm not supposed to leave the Dursleys this early, but they're already being horrible. I've been yelled at for things that happened before I even arrived, been forced to do more chores than I can count, been hit one too many times by my giant cousin, and have had a single snack in the entire day that I've been here. I would greatly appreciate it if you could somehow find it in your heart to let me come stay with you earlier than we previously planned, as I'm not sure I'd be able to survive until the Quidditch World Cup otherwise._

_Love,_

_Harry James Potter_

_P.S. Tell Ginny, Ron, George, Fred, Percy, and Mr. Weasley that I said hi!_

_P.S.S. If Bill and Charlie are there, I'd really like to meet them._

Molly Weasley had just begun cooking food when she received a letter from Harry asking if he could stay with her family for the rest of the summer. While it warmed her heart that he thought of them before anybody else, she couldn't help but feel angry at his guardians. Those Dursleys were despicable people, always underfeeding him and beating him, forcing him to do cruel and unusual chores...

At that moment, Ron entered the room with a rumbling stomach but Mrs. Weasley smacked him with a wooden spoon and shrieked, "Ron, don't touch any food until you've properly de-gnomed the yard!" He left grouchily, like always, as she returned her attention to the boy obviously in need of her love and attention. Maybe she could set him up with Ginny? A communion of the Weasley and Potter families hadn't happened in five generations, and this time it was the sole heir... Smiling happily that her daughter was going to live a more financially stable life than her own, she quickly wrote the boy back.

The thought that Arthur somehow supported a family of nine with the salary of a single full-time job in one of the less important branches of the Ministry never occurred to her. Nor did the thought that maybe she could get a job to lighten his stress. Or the fact that most muggle families would likely be bankrupt under similar conditions. No, all she thought about was finally one-upping that bitch Narcissa...  
_

_Dear Professor Lupin,_

_I know this may seem a little out of the blue, but I was wondering what the possibility of a werewolf potentially adopting a wizard child would be? I'm currently living with the Dursley family, as you know, and I really miss Sirius though I know he likely won't ever be able to be my legal guardian unless a miracle occurs. Despite the fact that you had an uncontrolled transformation last year and tried to kill me as well as all of my closest friends, I really see you as the first father figure of my life. I know its unprofessional to seek that sort of relationship with a professor, but I was hoping to potentially see you some more and maybe learn more about my biological parents? Anyways, I hope you reply to this soon._

_Sincerely,_

_Harry James Potter_

Remus Lupin was pleasantly surprised when he received a letter from Harry. Upon reading the post, he felt sick to his stomach. How could he mention to Harry that he actually tried adopting him all those years ago, yet was rejected simply because he was a werewolf? It was his greatest obstacle in life, being a werewolf.

If he wasn't a werewolf, the suspicion wouldn't have been aimed at him when there was a confirmed spy in the Order of the Phoenix and the real spy, his old 'friend' Peter Pettigrew would likely have gotten caught. If he wasn't a werewolf, he could've been Harry's guardian and raised him in the wizarding world away from those horrible people, in a way that could let him get used to the fame. If he wasn't a werewolf, he would've been able to settle down with the foreign exchange student Suki Aozaki...

But he was a werewolf, so there was no point in thinking about the past.

He knew that the Children of the Moon, werewolves, were created in much the same way as the Children of the Night, vampires. A virus cultivated by warring demons in the void between realms was released into the Human Realm to bolster their numbers. Remus didn't initially believe in the concept of alternate realms, but he'd seen it with his own eyes: the cosmology of various mythos stretching on for all of eternity.

He traveled to the nine realms of Norse cosmology all connected to the world-tree Yggdrasil: seen the fire demons of Muspelheim, the light elves of Alfheim, the beautiful warrior-queens of Vanaheim, the powerful warrior-kings of Asgard, his own world of Midgard, the frost giants of Jotunheim, the dwarves Nidavellir, the dark elves of Svartalfheim, and the dead in Niffleheim. He also traveled to the six realms of Buddhist cosmology: seen the territories ruled by humans, spoken with talking animals, been to the pits of hell in Naraka, talked with various gods of Deva, escaped from the maws of hungry ghosts in Preta, and gambled with the jealous gods of Asura.

Of course, he had been under the influence of Moon Powder at the time, but that's beside the point.

He couldn't adopt Harry, no matter how much he wanted to huff and puff and blow the legislative house down. But as soon as Sirius was exonerated for his crimes, which Remus had no doubt in his mind that Padfoot would be, he would be visiting his best friends' son on a regular basis. And when Harry got emancipated, he would even give the kid a place to crash if necessary. But now, now he could do nothing but sit back and watch with annoyance and exasperation as Dumbledore made all the wrong decisions for the 'Greater Good'. But what could he, a lowly downworlder, do against the wizarding world's beacon of light? Gritting his teeth, Remus wrote back...


	5. Act One: Chamber of Secrets

**Side Note: This is the longest chapter at the moment...**

* * *

They reappeared in the dark, fluorescent green light of the Chamber of Secrets. Not two feet away from them was the Basilisk, whose body was still perfectly preserved. "Told you," said Harry with mock immature smugness. Durza laughed and walked over to the giant snake, appearing to scrutinize it with something between scholarly delight and greed. Grinning, Harry said, "Yo, I'm gonna go looking around. The last time I was here, I was kind of distracted. And I haven't been down since, now that I think about it."

Durza laughed and said, "Alright, go exploring. I'm going to be assessing the net worth of this monstrosity in the meantime. Though this would likely be worth more than I've made my entire life..." Not really sure how to respond to his new friend's melancholic tone, Harry turned and began looking at all the walls. Just for the fun of it, he began saying **_"_Open up, motherfucker!_"_** repeatedly, wondering if the statue was the only thing in the chamber other than the door worth noting. This was quickly proven wrong when a stone door that perfectly blended in with the walls opened, grinding noisily across the ground. He briefly wondered if he guessed the actual password, but it likely just opened at the command **"Open"**.

Within seconds, the wandmaker's assistant was beside him, staring intently at the now open doorway. "Listen kid, stay here while I check it out. There's likely nothing in there that could harm me, so don't worry about my health." And with that, the redheaded man blurred into the room, leaving behind a very confused Harry. "_How does he move so fast, Equinox?"_he asked his hidden familiar. He felt amusement bubbling its way across their mental link and felt annoyed that the phoenix was withholding information for its own amusement.

_"I will say nothing_," replied the black avian. Harry growled under his breath and muttered, "Damn bird."

Durza reappeared just as quickly and said, "Did you know that there's a nest of unhatched Basilisk eggs in there?" Harry was about to suggest that they smash them all to bits, but Durza's next words stopped his mouth before it could form its own. "It will be awfully difficult for them to grow up without their mother. And they all appear to be males, meaning that they don't have that death-stare like the one you faced did."

"You mean only the females can kill with eye contact?" asked Harry incredulously. Durza nodded.

Equinox muttered, "_Figures_."

Harry chuckled and said, "Well, since they aren't as dangerous to look at, do you think they'd be good pets?"

The other put himself into a thinking pose and replied, "Well maybe for you they'd be good, but not for the average person. They'd be incredibly loyal, and are rumored to be able to actively camouflage their outer layer of scales. They can hide in plain sight and easily kill anything with their venom, or so the stories say."

"That would certainly explain how this sixty foot long snake was capable of sneaking up and attacking people second year," said Harry, staring at the Basilisk with a whole new level of healthy respect for its lethal abilities.

"Oh no, only the males can hide themselves. The females kill with intimidation, the males kill with stealth," replied Durza matter-of-factly. Harry face-palmed, and nearly tripped over his shoelaces at the overall stupidity of people in the school above their heads. "That being said, its just as difficult to kill a male as a female, considering that you can't really use your eyes when fighting either. I have no idea how this thing managed to sneak up on people since its female and gigantic, but enough of that speculation. Do you want to keep the eggs or not?" asked Durza. He was looking at Harry impatiently.

Nodding slowly, Harry said, "And they're all males?" He really didn't want to have to deal with the responsibility of handling an animal that could kill him or his friends as easily as breathing. Then again, Scabbers could potentially have killed them all hundreds of times, yet the rodent animagus never did. So, all things considered, maybe it would be safer not to just accept pets out of the blue in general...

Durza frowned and said, "There's one female, but the rest are male." Trying to discern what the man was thinking, Harry squinted his eyes. That didn't help anything, other than making him look constipated, so he stopped and began contemplating what to do.

"And how many are there total?" queried Harry. There wasn't really much more he could ask at this point, and it just seemed like the logical sort of thing to do.

"Five. You could always sell them on the black market," said Durza.

Equinox snorted, "_Of course it may come to bite you in the ass, either figuratively or literally, so you may want to keep these in your possession_." In response, Harry gracefully snorted in derision. Raising a questioning eyebrow, the other man looked at him for an answer to his unasked question, 'why did you just do that,' but seemed to realize that he wouldn't be getting a response from the utterly embarrassed teenager.

Durza continued unaware of the ebony firebird's antics, "Also, how do you plan on transporting the snake and eggs? It would likely take a lot of energy to transport something as large as that corpse," he said pointing at the dead Basilisk, "let alone being discrete when you reappear." He was talking about the spontaneous explosion of jet black flames that erupted around the general vicinity of him whenever he phoenix-flashed, and Harry really didn't have an answer to that, though he did know how to transport it regardless.

"Well, my chest should be here at any moment now. While we wait for it to arrive, do you mind if I ask you a question?" said Harry. Equinox's lack of an answer on the matter only a few minutes ago made him feel strange, and he really wanted to know how the man could move so fast as easily as he did. Was he using magic to reinforce his body, was he reducing air resistance around him when he moved, or was it something else entirely?

Durza shrugged noncommittally and said, "Not really, since it'd be counterproductive for a student not to ask questions of their instructor. But first, there was also a dusty book back there too. It looks to be indecipherable, but that could simply be written Parseltongue..." As he said this, he lifted up a book that appeared to be normal English to Harry at first glance, but he could see that it was far too spindly and sinister to be his spoken language. Of course different kinds of font could be used to get the same effect, but that was beside the point.

"_If its written, would it be called Parselhand?"_asked the smartass bird. It was actually a relatively valid point, considering that written Parseltongue didn't seem to have a name yet. Maybe the fact that it was so rare, constrained to a single family of magic users, or maybe because that family was so secretive that nobody really knew it could be written down.

_"I'll call it that for now on,"_Harry mentally projected to the bird as he rolled his eyes and picked up the book, entitled, 'The Serpentine Language.' He read the table of contents and blanched. There were spells in the language, a lost alphabet of Ancient Runes, an alternative system of Arithmancy, and a quick note saying that learning the higher forms of Parseltongue could help control any manner of reptiles, even Wyrms. Of course most of those functions wouldn't work without having the bloodline fully activated by the Slytherin Family Crest, but he could still use some of the weaker things.

Quickly hugging the book to his chest like it was a priceless artifact, which it was, Harry said, "Now about that question..." So far, today was a good day for Harry Potter, aside from learning that Dumbledore was basically ruining his life, and it seemed like it was only going to get better. The fact that he didn't have very much wealth at his disposal was currently irrelevant, because he could just make his own like a regular person if he really needed to.

Durza sighed in defeat and said, "As long as it isn't too invasive."

"Its not a personal question, or at least, I don't know if this will count as invasive or not from your perspective, but how do you move so quickly?" asked Harry, who quickly realized that maybe he should've been a bit more specific and less of a rambling fool when he asked that question. Deciding to just go with it for the moment, Harry didn't comment on his own horrible delivery or restate the question because it would make everything more awkward than it already was.

Durza stared at him as if he were stupid, further emphasizing Equinox's point. "I've got blood red eyes, pale skin, and gleaming white fangs. What do you think I am?" he asked in exasperation. It could have even been a rhetorical question, the answer was so obvious. However, those characteristics were still fairly ambiguous among the phantasmal humanoids. Those could just be fashion statements, and Durza just trying to imply that he was a nonhuman...

Harry blinked, and decided to try, "I realize that you're a vampire, I just didn't think vampires were supposed to be that fast."

Durza's red eyes seemed to glow at that. "You're not very bright, are you? I'm obviously a Vampire Lord! What do they teach you in this backwater school?" The vampire lord's hands wildly gesticulated upwards, towards the majority of Hogwarts, then he calmed down and said, "Alright, let me tell you some things. With the Norman invasion of Britain came the Volikar Coven, an ancient vampire clan. In fact, we're one of the first three kinds of vampires to appear on Earth," he said with no small amount of boasting in his voice.

"Aren't they a noble family in the Wizengamot?" asked Harry, remembering his short discussion with Equinox on the very same subject earlier that morning. It's strange how things kept overlapping today...

"That we are. But that's not what I'm going to talk about. We were once a part of Transylvania's vampire society a very long time ago, easily on par with the House of Dracula. However, a group of Italian vampires, who shall remain nameless in my presence, began conquering all of their competition throughout Europe. With the mysterious disappearance of Dracula, the most powerful vampire in all of Europe, there was nothing keeping the Italians out of our territory," said Durza.

"So they came to Britain?" asked an intrigued Harry.

Durza nodded, "We fled the onslaught of a powerful vampire army, and came to Great Britain where the most powerful wizards of the age were congregating nearly a thousand years ago. We sought out protection from the Italian vampires and gained it, bringing swarms of malcontent vampire refugees from all across mainland Europe to the British Isles." He paused dramatically before continuing, "Now, do you know the difference between common vampires and vampire lords?"

"Not really. You kind of just went on a random tangent about a specific coven-"

"Alright, alright! There are several different kinds of vampires. My race's commoner has their strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, and agility all increased by a factor of six when they initially ascend above humanity. The downside is an unquenchable thirst for blood, unjustifiable sex drive, aversion to sunlight, and weakness to pure or hallowed things. Then there's also the fact that common vampires lose their ability to use magic."

Durza continued, "A vampire lord from my race, however, has as big a difference in their physical attributes to a common vampire as they have to a normal human, which is another factor of six. We also have the ability to control creatures of the night, manipulate shadows and darkness, and become intangible mist or fog. We retain our ability to use magic, and don't spread our virus to others with a simple bite. And we aren't as affected by sunlight, purity, or hallowed things. However, our blood thirst and sex drive is increased by another factor of six..."

"That sounds awesome," said Harry, "-though I'm not sure I'd want to be addicted to blood and sex..." And it really did. The only downside appeared to by not being able to control their impulses, though with enough training in the mental arts it could possibly be circumscribed by sheer willpower.

"_Be careful what you say around him,"_ replied Equinox. "_It may just come back to bite you..."_

_"You've already used that joke today,"_ admonished Harry. _"At least come up with some new material before you start spouting crap out, you damn bird!"_ The shadowy bird of embers began sulking. Really, being one of the strongest kinds of phantasmal creatures out there should get him at least some respect, right? Then again, Equinox was even more than just some random phoenix...

The vampire lord stared at him and said, "Would you like the gift of becoming a vampire lord?" Durza watched as the boy considered all the possibilities, and didn't like how much thought the boy was putting into it. Either he wanted to ascend from humanity, or he didn't. Really, how hard of a choice could it possibly be?

"How would this affect my standing in the Wizengamot, or as the scion of two noble houses?" asked Harry. "Would I still be able to go to Hogwarts? Also, I've heard that there are quite a few discriminatory laws being passed against vampires lately, which wouldn't really help my situation at all. Before I can make a decision that large, I'll need to learn all the facts. For instance, how would wizarding law apply to me if I was no longer human? Things like that need to be questioned before I can do anything at the moment," said Harry.

"You would still be allowed to go to Hogwarts since you're already enrolled there, plus the fact that your tuition is already paid for will make it difficult for them to kick you out, plus your status as a nobleman and heir to at least one of the school's founders would make it nearly impossible to do so. Wizarding law wouldn't have much of a hold over you, unless you broke the International Statute of Secrecy, but that's because us vampires ratified that treaty. You would be considered a permanent resident of Britain, but never a citizen. However, this is basically irrelevant since you're a noble and would still have the privileges of your station because of your birthright," said Durza.

"What exactly does that mean?" he asked in confusion. How could he be a noble but not a citizen?

"As a noble, you're granted the right to own real estate, vote, serve public office, and things of that nature. In fact being a noble demands you do all of those things, while exempting you from most taxes and granting you other special rights, such as the automatic enrollment at Hogwarts which we discussed before coming to this dump. A permanent resident, however, usually can't do any of those things, or they have a much more difficult time getting them. Basically, your nobility trumps everything, and you won't be losing any rights by becoming a vampire," said Durza.

Thinking fiercely for a few seconds, Harry slowly asked, "So I'd essentially be emancipated?" Because a quick route to gaining adulthood would really help him out, especially with all the things Dumbledore was allowed to do as both the steward of his family and legal guardian. If he wasn't oppressed at Gringotts and in the Wizengamot, then he could start getting political supporters and sponsors to help prevent Voldemort taking over the Ministry. That would be a big blow against the Dark Lord's plans.

"In the eyes of vampire law, there is no distinction between being an adult or child since we're all immortal. You would be treated no different than anybody else, which is essentially the same as wizards treat those considered to be an adult by their law. I don't think that wizarding law will let you get emancipated without the permission of your legal guardian, but in vampire law it is redundant since you're already a fully fledged vampire," said Durza.

"Wouldn't I get treated harshly by the British Ministry though, being an underage permanent resident? My godfather was framed for murder, and nobody seemed to even lift a finger to help him, even the one man who I know beyond a shadow of a doubt had the information. I don't want to be sent to Azkaban for something I didn't do, simply because of what I am or who I might get in the way of," said Harry.

"Well, your status as a noble would likely save you from anything so drastic," said Durza, visibly upset at the news that somebody was treated so horribly by the British magical government.

"My godfather was the head to a Most Ancient and Noble House, the House of Black," said Harry. "He was falsely accused and is still being hunted down due to that..." He trailed off forlornly, a depressed expression on his face seldom seen by others.

_"Speaking of that, we should really find a way to exonerate him at some point soon,"_mentioned Equinox, trying to liven the mood by making painfully obvious statements.

_"Gee, really?"_asked Harry sarcastically.

_"Awkward silences caused by a teenager's angst, no matter how justified it may be, are the absolute greatest way to ruin the mood of a conversation,"_said the ebony phoenix with a chiding tone to its voice.

_"You're right, my bad,"_replied the young wizard.

Durza's eyes hardened at that and said, "You could gain a form of diplomatic immunity if you joined the vampire ministry and became an ambassador to the wizards, which we have had several people do in the past. This would make any negative action against you tantamount to a declaration of war by wizarding Britain against the entire vampire nation. And let me tell you, we would certainly win."

"How can you be so sure?" asked Harry in awe of the sheer determination that the man spoke in. "I've seen just what wizards can do, and I'm pretty sure we outnumber you guys ten to one, according to this book we had to read a long time ago in History of Magic class," said Harry.

Durza gouged his hand through a nearby stone wall, leaving a deep trench where his hand was, and a pile of dust on the ground at his feet. "Wizarding Britain was brought to its knees by a single terrorist and his ramshackle organization over the course of a decade. Sure you guys outnumber us ten to one globally, but if you don't remember, our attributes are six times stronger than yours in our common vampires, and thirty six times greater in our vampire lords," said Durza.

"I still don't see how that really affects things. We have a numerical advantage of over a thousand percent more people to use than you, while you have an ability factor of about six hundred percent on average and the occasional thirty six thousand. It should still even out pretty closely, with the edge going to the wizards..."

Sighing, Durza continued, "I highly doubt all of the wizards in the entire world would jump to the aid of Britain, who's still using imperialistic policies to oppress the majority of the planet I might add, since it is split up into hundreds of tiny nations all vying for control. The vampire nation includes all vampires across the globe, a tenth of the wizarding world's population. Think about it like this: there are currently about six billion human beings on the planet, and another sixty million wizards unaccounted for since there are a hundred muggles for every wizard. By that logic, there are roughly six million vampires worldwide, all in the same collective group."

Harry nodded to show that he was following along as Durza continued, "Muggle Britain's population is around fifty million, give or take a few. That means that there are approximately five hundred thousand wizards. Do you truly think they could win a war against six million vampires, which would be roughly equivalent to thirty six million enemy wizards due to the attribute increase by a factor of six? Do you see how the scales tend to shift in our favor once the facts start coming in? I can't see Magical Britain lasting more than a week against the might of the vampire nation..."

"... So about that diplomatic immunity..." said a weary Harry.

_"Nice transition,"_said Equinox, the fiery bird's use of verbal irony for comedic relief not amusing the boy it resided within. _"It was so smooth and fluid that I'd never have noticed it, had I not been inside you,"_continued the flaming avian, despite how little of a reception it was getting.

_"Your sarcastic comments are neither wanted or needed,"_an irate Harry mentally projected. _"And if you ever emphasize the fact that you were inside me ever again, I'll do something horrible to you,"_he continued.

_"Like what? I'm a phantasmal creature of the highest calibre, a hybrid of organic material and magic materia. What could you possibly do to me at this stage in your life?"_asked the phoenix with obvious derision.

Smiling in amusement at how easy is was to get his point across, Durza continued their conversation from the point just prior to his arbitrary yet entertaining tangent about war, "It tends to eliminate most discrimination against us from those pesky humans, while simultaneously allowing us to literally get away with murder. The worst thing they could do to you would be deporting you from the country, but you'd likely be welcomed with open arms anywhere else in the world due to your celebrity status."

"I'm starting to really think becoming a vampire lord is a relatively good idea, all things considered. I mean, it would easily make my future battles against Voldemort a lot easier," enthused the human.

Durza smirked at those words, knowing that he finally got the boy's attention and the want to become a vampire. While the graduate from Scholomance wouldn't care if Harry were an ordinary boy, he could sense multiple bloodlines flowing in the child's veins, plus having somebody with as much political clout as Harry Potter would seriously help his coven out enormously.

"How did you know that Voldemort wasn't dead, anyway?" asked Harry in confusion. If that was regular news, wouldn't the public be going hysterical by now? He knew for a fact that most people truly believed the Dark Lord to be deceased, the snake bastard's own servants included in that group. Unless the true heir of Slytherin was covertly doing things...

"He has dispatched envoys to various dark creatures asking for aid in recovering his body. None have taken him seriously, since he can only really scare humans into following his words. The vampire nation has largely ignored him, and we plan to do so in the future as well. He wouldn't dare attack us at our castles and fortresses. All of his forces would be killed mercilessly and brought back from the dead to act as our soldiers. It would be a suicide mission, unless he learned necromancy to a level to rival that of Lord Harkon, which I doubt he could with a mortal lifetime."

"Does it hurt to turn into a vampire?" asked Harry. While pain wasn't really something that truly affected him anymore thanks to Vernon Dursley's rather extreme forms of punishment, he was still averse to it like any other sentient being with survival instincts ingrained into them on the most basic scale. It wouldn't change his mind if the transformation process hurt, but it would make him consider preparing for it in some way.

"Fuck yes," was the curt response he received from the vampire lord, Durza.

_"I like this guy; he gets right to the fucking point_," mused Equinox.

"_What happened to the wise old bird that wanted to train me for defeating a Dark Lord?"_

_"He got bored and replaced himself with me."_

_"Smart-ass."_

Continuing unaware of the amusing byplay between the boy and his familiar, Durza uttered, "It feels like acidic magma is scorching its way through your veins. However, after a few days you'll cool off and start noticing how much more powerful you are. I must warn you that as a newborn, you'll likely have horrible control over your new impulses and need the majority of your power sealed away just to function. Slowly we can open the seal back up so you can become acquainted to your new self over time."

"Is there anything else I should know?" asked Harry.

"You'll want to give in to your impulses on occasion, because you don't want to become a feral vampire. However, you don't want to give in to them too often, or else you'll become addicted to blood and sex on a truly disgusting level. Moderation is the key for all things, drinking and fucking included," answered the demure vampire lord.

"I definitely want to become a vampire now, but first, lets finish collecting eggs and the carcass," said Harry. Durza Volikar nodded his head and they heard the distinctive clanging of Harry's demented magical trunk banging into the sink engraved with a snake, trying to gain access to the Chamber of Secrets. "Right on time..."


	6. Act One: Magical Dissertation

**Chapter Notes: This chapter basically just describes the ridiculously complicated origin of magic, as well as the process a human goes through to use it. There's also some character development throughout, and comic relief at the end.**

* * *

Harry and Durza reappeared in the still completely empty Belmont's Place in a burst of black fire courtesy of the phoenix living inside Harry. "Now how the hell are we going to get the entire body out of the trunk? It must weight a few tons-" but Harry's outward rumination was cut off when Durza simply turned it over and the body poured out, filling the entire shop. "Hey Simon!" yelled up Durza. "Look what I brought home!"

A distant voice replied, "I'm coming!"

Harry turned to Durza and said, "You're obscenely old, right?" His voice had an upbeat, amused quality to it that belayed any impoliteness that one would likely construe from such a provocatively rude statement, so Durza took no offense.

"Why yes, yes I am," said Durza, in a similarly upbeat tone.

"Have you ever discovered what magic _is_? Like how does it work, what is it made of, you know, stuff like that?" asked Harry.

The Vampire Lord contemplated before stating, "This is just a theory, but I believe that the Omniverse can loosely be visualized as the mythological world-tree of ancient Norse mythology. Yggdrasil is supported by a metaphysical world-root, known as the Root. It is the source of all events and phenomena in the Omniverse. Dwelling outside of existence itself, the Swirl of the Root stores and archives information on all possibilities and events throughout the time-cycles of every universe that has ever spawned. Objects known as the Elder Scrolls are extensions of the Root for mortals to use."

The vampire wasn't about to state how other magical theorists laughed at this concept simply because it was similar to the muggle science of theoretical physics. He was finally finding somebody who could likely appreciate things from both perspectives.

"So there are other universes?" asked Harry. The idea sounded admittedly farfetched, but then again so did the existence of magic, so why not? In the grand scheme of things, nothings really could surprise him anymore, other than how in-depth of an answer he got.

He might not contribute much to classroom lectures or even listen to his many professors on a regular basis, but Harry had just enough intelligence and precociousness to get away with that, especially considering how boring and opposite of engaging most classes in Hogwarts typically were. He could ask insightful and interesting questions if he ever felt like it, but Hermione would likely answer his questions anyway so it was pointless.

"This location, the Root, is the progenitor to all of creation, the original universe that has replicated itself an innumerable amount of times. The resulting universes are either remarkably similar, coming from the same branch, or unimaginably different from each other, being on a different branch. No two world's are ever the same, resulting from the constant mutations that accompany existential replication," exclaimed Durza, his crimson eyes shining with intense emotion in finally finding a protege to pass his knowledge onto. That, or he was getting thirsty, which was never a good thing when standing right next to a human.

_"So it's sort of like the afterlife? I wonder which afterlife it emulates? The Christian, Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Shinto, Buddhist..."_

_"The concept of Tartarus, The Fields of Punishment, The Asphodel Meadows, Elysian Fields, and Isles of the Blessed only truly affect those who truly believe in Greek mythology. In that respect, Greek deities, Heroic Spirits, and phantasmal creatures are weak because they gained strength from human belief in their stories,"_ chipped in Equinox.

_"So they're all real, just weaker because nobody believes in them anymore?"_ asked an incredulous Harry. _"How do they gain strength from human belief? I don't understand that part,"_ he said, hoping his zoning out wasn't too rude to Durza, who was still talking and seemingly oblivious to their side conversation.

_"Perception is only half of reality, Harry,"_ began Equinox. _"Intent is one of the three components of active magic, and belief is like higher form of that. Belief is incredibly potent with magic, and can sustain magical entities indefinitely if there's enough of it. However, most deities never intervened in mortal affairs simply because doing that would use up too much of their energy and make them weaker, which would let another pantheon takeover if they weren't careful enough."_

_"But what about conflicting creation myths, and other such logical fallacies that can be taken into account. Wouldn't that disprove your thesis?"_ asked Harry. He was somewhat stunned by how smart he was beginning to sound, and wondered if somehow Equinox's presence was making him smarter...

_"Keep listening to him and he'll likely explain it to you,"_ said the bird, its eyes rolling.

_"Right..." _said an embarrassed Harry.

"You still haven't really gotten around to where the magic itself comes from yet," pointed out Harry, trying to keep up with the sheer amount of information being thrown at him. If this were school, he likely wouldn't even pretend to bother with listening to a professor, but this man's ideas were intriguing in spite of that. Plus, he started it with his question, so the least he could do was pay some attention.

"I'm getting there," said Durza patiently. "In between the separate realities, there supposedly exists a postulated barrier or energy consisting of theoretical particles that are likely the essence of magic itself on the quantum level. This unimaginable structure that isolates the various universes from one another doesn't have perfect integrity, often creating passageways from one reality to another. The flaws in the grid's structure even allow some magic particles to bleed into a lucky universe and permeate everything that exists throughout the cosmos."

"Makes sense..."

"The Omniverse's cosmology is typically divided into three different categories: Oblivion, Mundus, and Aetherius. Beings known as Daedra, the interdimensional parasites modernly christened as demons, inhabit the various hellish realms of Oblivion, which are located in the void between the realities of Mundus, constricted from rapid expansion and invasion of the many universes by the magical energy grid. The realms of Aetherius are home to the Aedra, benevolent and divine beings responsible for Yggdrasil and Akasha in the first place, as well as all the magical energy supplying the mystical barirer," answered Durza

The vampire lord began smirking at the surprised look on the boy's face. He was used to ridicule or occasionally even outright discrimination due to the similarity of his ideas and those of muggles, as well as his status as a phantasmal creature. Being taken seriously, even if by a teenager, was a delightful new experience that he wanted to repeat in the future. Yes, he'd already decided to be the boy's instructor.

"And this applies to magic in what way?" asked Harry.

"Yes, this helped me to explain the Energy Grid," exclaimed Durza, though it didn't really do that either. "Um... the excess energy from the Energy Grid leaks into reality and is released at focus sites such as Mount Olympus and other such places that deities first formed."

"This energy coalesced into divine beings? I thought human belief created them..."

"Human belief gave the initial shape, but magic did the rest. Did you know that the energy is actually sentient in a way? Its hard to explain, since its way more than simple electrical, thermal, or gravitational; it is a completely different kind of energy that most humans can't even perceive, let alone use. But some humans can. These are wizards, mages, and sorcerers in order from weakest to strongest," said Durza.

"So how exactly are humans capable of using magic if its sentient energy? How could we control something that can apparently bend reality to its every whim? This just all seems so unlikely," said Harry, wondering if they'd just wasted the better part of half an hour talking about absolutely nothing. It was sort of depressing when it came out like that.

"All living things need magic to survive because it is a basic driving force behind many of the mechanisms that make life possible in the first place. However, humans are unique in that they can utilize theirs for more than just living," said Durza, smiling as he recaptured Harry's attention.

"Before I explain that, we'll need to talk about the three planes of existence: the terrestrial, astral, and celestial planes. The terrestrial plane is the physical world, where our bodies exist. The astral plane is the mental world, where our minds exist. And the celestial plane is the spiritual world, where our souls exist," said Durza.

Continuing, he said, "It takes a lot of studying and meditating to be able to reach either the astral or celestial plane, but it is possible. Most mortal beings, be they magical or not, are biologically constrained to a singular plane that defines their reality. For humans and vampires, its the terrestrial plane. However, through delving deep into the arcane, we can access the other planes."

He paused long enough to let that sink in before adding the useful anecdote, "This is actually what distinguishes wizards from mages and sorcerers; wizards are those who have yet to perceive any planes beyond the terrestrial. Mages are capable of perceiving the astral plane, and sorcerers have perception of the celestial plane. That is why Sorcerers are so much more powerful magically than mages, and mages so much more powerful magically than wizards."

"So through enough practice and tutelage, I could potentially become a mage or even a sorcerer?" asked Harry.

Durza nodded and continued the lecture, "If you need help visualizing it, think about it like this: if you were standing on a beach only in the sand, you would be on land. In this case the sand is the terrestrial plane. If you walked up to the water while still touching the sand, you'd be in two places at once, in the ocean and on land. This is analogous to being in both the terrestrial and astral planes. And beyond that, you'd also be in the sky because the air is touching you, representing the celestial plane."

"But..." prompted Harry.

Smiling, Durza continued, "However, it would be as if you were deaf, dumb, and blind, unable to perceive anything but the feel of sand on your skin. If you could see the ocean or the sky, you would have much more knowledge of your surroundings and power over those new dominions as well."

"So you need a way to experience the other planes, sort of like magesight, right?" asked an unsure Harry.

"Exactly like magesight, though that word would be relatively inaccurate. It would be more like a quantum leap in perception. After all, perception is only half of reality. Its always there, we just can't typically see it. With magesight, we can unlock our abilities to recognize and acknowledge things beyond the everyday phenomenon typical to the terrestrial plane. All beings with a magical core have a tiny ability in magesight due to their magical cores constantly connecting them with the other planes. This is what allows us to see things that muggles can't."

"Is that why the Knight Bus can do whatever the hell it wants without consequences, or how the Leaky Cauldron is basically nonexistent to muggles?" asked Harry.

"Yes. Muggles have magic, just not enough to be able to perceive anything 'out of the ordinary' if you will," said Durza.

"And why exactly is that?" asked Harry. This was much more than he ever bargained for, especially considering he was just making some small-talk to pass the time until Simon Belmont, the apparent owner of the store, came over to do something. Unfortunately for his schedule, but fortunate for his curiosity since he was learning more in a few minutes than in several years of the Hogwarts curriculum, Simon still hadn't shown up despite being called quite a while ago.

"The magical core resides in the celestial plane, gathering magical energy abundant in the world thanks to those 'leaks' in the Energy Grid," the vampire lord smiled. "All humans have magical cores, but the ability to use magic is entirely determined by how much magic flows through the body. And this is what separates magic-users from muggles," said the vampire lord.

"Where is the magical energy stored, if you don't mind me asking?" asked Harry.

"There is a magical network in the bodies of all humans, quite similar to the circulatory system but filled with magical particles rather than blood cells. This second circulatory system is invisible to the naked eye and made up of different 'arteries' called magical circuits," answered Durza. "They're largely controlled subconsciously by the autonomous neurological system due to restraining fail-safes that are 'built in' to the circuits. Those fail-safes are why most wizards require wands to call the power out or why children without inhibitions can use accidental magic without a wand."

"This is fascinating and all, but how exactly is magical energy capable of causing so many different effects? Shouldn't energy particles be relatively uniform in their effects on a consistent environment?" asked Harry.

"Yes, normally. But magic isn't normal, now is it? Despite it throwing the laws of conventional physics, chemistry, and biology out the window, here's how I've hypothesized that it works: the eternano particles from the Energy Grid have spread throughout the universe and formed structures that the muggles call 'super strings'." Upon saying this, Durza noticed Harry's upraised eyebrow.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm still in the middle of explaining things!" said Durza, hoping that Harry still wanted him to be his instructor after this doozy of a conversation. "These 'super strings' form the various particles of force and substance that makeup all energy and matter in the universe. The eternano particles that make these up are quad-polarly charged, meaning that there are four cardinal poles rather than simply just north and south like electromagnetism. This has the strange consequence of allowing eternanos to be capable storing and transmitting digital information just like electromagnetism."

"I really don't know the in's and out's of modern technology due to my horrible upbringing by abusive muggles, so could you elaborate on that?" asked Harry. He wasn't sure why he was capable of admitting that fact to an almost complete stranger, but then again they did go on an adventure together to the Chamber of Secrets, and the man was giving him pretty valuable information.

"Well, this essentially means that data is broken down into four minuscule and repetitive figures representing a different charge: base, inverse, converse, and contrapositive. Electromagnetic data has one's and zero's based on whether there's flow or not, but magic is a constant flow and has permeated the entire universe, so this wouldn't work the same way. Magical data has formed instructions for the purpose, condition, and effects of the 'super strings' that they make up, thus forming the building block behind all energy and matter known to man."

"And this means that..." said a lost Harry. Maybe he could ask Hermione about it later?

"The magical particles residing in our body are capable of temporarily overwriting the instructions of m-particles that are outside our body, allowing us to enact unusual phenomenon in localized areas. The ones inside us are generally easier to control while the ones outside us are easier to react. All particles, whether internal or external, are collectively known as prana or magicka depending on who you ask," said Durza.

"You make my head hurt," replied Harry, honestly.

"What the hell's taking Simon so long?" asked Durza, smirking all the while.

"I've been here the whole time, you just can't see me over this mountain of a snake!" came back another voice. "Plus, why are you spouting all that weird mumbo jumbo to that kid for? Nobody else believes your weird bastardization of muggle science and wizard magic, so stop trying to corrupt the youth with it!"

_"Remember what I said about having a surprise in store for you regarding mental discipline? Go to the __Forbidden __Forest__, and hopefully you'll be able to understand what he said about the astral plane a little earlier,"_ said Equinox.

Harry chuckled at Simon and Durza and said, "Well, I best be off." The vampire lord, who Harry noted to apparently be subservient to the mysterious man named Simon, handed him his magical trunk, still filled with basilisk eggs, and waved goodbye. And as a burst of black flames overtook his body for the umpteenth time that morning, Harry called out, "Excelsior!" He would have loved to see the expression on Simon's face when he realized that a child of fourteen just phoenix-flashed out of his shop, leaving a giant snake behind.  
_

Molly Weasley's head stuck out of the fireplace in Dumbledore's office rather suddenly. "Professor Dumbledore, I want to tell you that Harry is going to be staying with us from next week until the school year starts. He sent us a letter and very politely asked whether he could come visit us, possibly stay for the rest of the summer. I couldn't say no, and I don't want him staying with those _people_ that put bars on his window and keep him underfed."

"Molly, we've been over this. You aren't his mother," replied Dumbledore.

"And I suppose you think that _you_ are? I've seen the way you treat him, Albus. You act just like an overbearing mother to him!" said Molly with tears threatening to fall out of her light brown eyes. Dumbledore sighed, wondering whether he should point out that if anybody was being an overbearing mother, it was her. Deciding he'd rather hug a cactus, Dumbledore made his eyes start twinkling.

"Molly, he needs to spend time with his family. The blood wards around the house demand it. Otherwise any number of dark creatures would be able to harm him and his family. I'm sorry but this is necessary. Besides, you'll get to see him once the International Quidditch League enters the finals during the World Cup. I'm sure you can wait a few more weeks..." reasoned Dumbledore.

He watched her puff up with impotent anger and internally sighed, hoping that she could contain her inevitable explosion until she got home. She opened her mouth, and he knew it was too late. "Harry is as good as a part of this family, and he needs all the love and attention he can get! You even promised me that he would get married to Ginny once they were both of age!" He could simply place a silencing charm on her and send her back through the fireplace, but she was incredibly loyal and the mother to a small army of redheads that were potentially loyal to him.

"Molly, I said he might decide to marry her. There is no marriage contract between the Weasley and Potter families, and besides, Harry has too much on his plate as it is without thinking about marriage. Just leave him be for now, its for the best." She looked like she was about to argue, but he cut her off, "Or I could make it to where you won't ever see him again, only read about him in your children's letters or in a magazine. Do you want that, Molly?" That shut her up, and Dumbledore smiled.

She left, muttering about getting Ginny and Harry together, and Albus rolled his eyes. If there was anything he knew about the Potter men, it was that they were far too stubborn to simply do as they were expected. In the case of James, it was rulebreaking and pranking people. In the case of Harry, it was saving people and believing the best in everyone. He sighed and looked at the letter he was reading before being rudely interrupted by Molly. So Remus wanted to adopt Harry? No, Harry needed to be attention starved so that he would be easier to manipulate...

* * *

**Author Notes: The concept about the nature of the universe in this chapter is loosely derived from the Nasuverse as well as Marvel and DC Comics. The explanation of how humans use magic is a combination of Harry Potter, Nasuverse, Naruto, and slightly Percy Jackson. **


	7. Act One: Forbidden Forest

Harry reappeared in the Forbidden Forest and said, "_So, what exactly am I supposed to be doing here? I don't think its particularly safe to just wander around aimlessly in these woods. Especially since I found Aragog..."_ Harry shivered when he thought about the giant man-eating spider.

_"We're going to visit the centaurs, who are masters of the mental arts. Hopefully we can convince them to teach you something beyond simple Occlumency and Legilimency,"_replied Equinox.

_"What are Occlumency and Legilimency?"_ asked Harry. He wasn't looking for another headache, and hoped the explanations would be simple enough.

_"Well, Legilimency is the art of interpreting brain waves. This can give a wizard access to thoughts, memories, and motives. There are few masters in this field of Illusion magic, solely because brain waves are difficult to interpret. However, both Dumbledore and Voldemort are distinguished users of this branch of the mind arts. A sister art of Legilimency is Empathy, which gives access to emotions, sensations, and moods. When combined, the two can give somebody a form of Clairvoyance. However, there are few people capable of using both,"_ supplied Equinox.

Then the midnight phoenix continued, _"Occlumency_,_on the other hand, is the art of protecting your thoughts. This can be through organizing your mind and scrambling your thoughts, encrypting them with a secret code, storing them in the astral plane, etc. Occlumency can give you the ability to automatically store everything you experience in your long-term memory and give you perfect recall over those experiences. The only master of Occlumency that I know of is a woman named Agatha in __America__,"_ replied the dark bird.

_"You mentioned that it was Illusion? How is something like this considered to be Illusion?"_ asked Harry.

_"The branch of magic known as Illusion is anything having to do with manipulating the mentality of others. Legilimency, Occlumency, Hypnosis, and Empathy are all considered a part of this. There are also other major branches of magic as well: Conjuration, Alteration, Destruction, and Restoration. I will tell you more about those later, but for now- DUCK!"_said Equinox.

Harry instinctively threw himself to the ground and heard something whiz right through the space his head occupied only moments earlier. "You, human! What are you doing in our forest?" came a gruff voice. Harry instantly knew that he'd found the centaurs, or more importantly, the centaurs discovered him. "Come with me, human. I will let the people of our village decide what to do with you."

_"I'd forgotten how territorial they are,"_ muttered the black phoenix as ropes were wound around Harry's body, constricting him uncomfortably. He was thrown unceremoniously over the shoulder of the man-horse hybrid, and they ran off into the slowly thickening darkness of the ForbiddenForest's shrub level.

_"That's a pretty important thing to forget,"_ mumbled back Harry as he bounced on the centaur's shoulder. _"Maybe if I apologize, they'll let me go?"_ wondered Harry.

_"As someone with a phoenix living inside you, you could simply phoenix-flash away. However, you need to at least try to convince them to help you out,"_ replied his familiar. Today was just getting more and more bizarre the longer it dragged on. Oh, and it wasn't even lunchtime yet!

Before long, they were in the middle of what appeared to be a small town, tiny huts and shacks made of wood and thimble dotted the little village, and it was protected on all sides by a wall of wooden pikes and various poisonous and sentient plants like Venomous Tentacula and Devil's Snare. Harry wondered idly how the centaurs managed to domesticate such wild and deadly plants, but his attention was redirected. It appeared that the entire town had congregated in the center of the village, and they were staring silently at him.

He shivered, despite how hot the forest was. Harry remembered it being incredibly cold that morning, yet now it felt sweltering. For some reason, the heat didn't bother him as much as it would have. Maybe Equinox was behind his resistance to heat. Yet another thing that he'd have to ask the bird before the day was over.

One of the older centaurs, possibly a village leader, said, "Who are you, and what were you doing on our lands?"

Harry replied, "My name is Harry Potter, and I came here because my familiar wanted me to beseech you for lessons in the mind arts."

"And are you so arrogant that you believed that we would teach you after trespassing on our lands? You who desecrated our hunting grounds with your smell of fire? We would much sooner kill you than bequeath our knowledge to you, human!" yelled a much younger centaur. It looked like the one that belittled Firenze for saving him first year, but he couldn't be sure.

Before Harry could even respond to him, the village leader said, "He is obviously not intending to destroy our lands, Bane! Have you forgotten that fires cleanse the forest of the dead and decaying in the underbrush? Besides, while he does smell of fire, a young buck like yourself should be able to tell that the fire is merry, not dangerous."

_"This day just keeps getting more insane by the minute,"_ said Harry. _"First a mythical creature becomes my familiar, I find out that someone I looked up to was stealing from me, I meet a Vampire Lord and take the carcass of the Basilisk away, then I was ambushed by centaurs in the Forbidden Forest. What's next?"_

The village leader looked at Harry and said, "I'm terribly sorry for that. It seems that you haven't been given a proper welcome to our village. Allow me to make it up to you with a night of debauchery!" While debauchery might have sounded great had the request come from a cute human girl, it didn't.

Harry smiled politely and said, "That's not necessary. I just came to ask you if I could learn things from you about the mental arts to help me defeat Voldemort." They didn't appear to be amused by his somewhat cheeky reply.

The centaurs all seemed to have a silent conversation before the leader said, "Alright, we will teach you some things. But only if you tell us why you smell of fire."

Harry smiled and said, "I guess it would be because of-" but he was cut off by the sudden eruption of dark ethereal flames marking the dramatic entrance of his familiar, Equinox.

_"Yo,"_ said the bird, his words reverberating through everybody's minds.

"This is my familiar, Equinox. He is a black phoenix that can merge with my magical core, which is likely why you believed me to smell of fire. Of maybe you could sense that I had the First Blaze?"

Nobody was paying attention to him. They were all staring transfixed at the ebony firebird with expressions of reverent awe upon their faces. It seemed that the phoenix was having a conversation with everybody in the village except for Harry, who watched in mild annoyance as their eyes flitted back to him with greater frequency as the conversation continued. Finally, the village leader said, "Alright, most exalted of all. We will do as you ask."

The leader then turned to Harry and said, "I am the first centaur, Chiron. My father was the Titan of Time, Kronos. I pledge myself to teaching you the mental disciplines that I was gifted with when I was born. These include mental partition, thought acceleration, and astral projections. I would teach you how to use shared perception and transference of consciousness with your familiar, but Equinox can teach you that himself. Also memory manipulation and compulsive hypnosis are skills that you can learn on your own time, so we won't be going over those. There are also ways to utilize psionic and telekinetic attacks, but you can glean that information from Peeves."

Harry laughed and said, "Alright, so what is mental partition, thought acceleration, and astral projection?"

Chiron continued, "Mental partition is when you split your mind into several autonomous parts like a computer. This requires a highly organized mind, so Occlumency helps gain this ability. It can allow you to multitask much more efficiently, like giving you the ability to dual wield wands, and spell bend while spell chaining, or even cast spells while using Legilimency. It is a useful skill to have for dueling, studying, and even political maneuvering. Be warned that each partition will have separate personalities and moods though. Masters of this ability can create up to seven different partitions, including the original."

"That sounds awesome," said Harry. Equinox disappeared in a flash of black flames and returned to Harry's magical core.

_"I wonder how he knows how a computer works?"_asked Equinox specifically to Harry. This needed investigation, but later on. For now, Harry wanted to be bedazzled by the mental arts.

Chiron smiled and said, "Thought acceleration gives the ability to perform high speed calculations necessary for physics, alchemy, arithmancy, and numerology. It makes linear thinking much more efficient and enables you to also perceive the world around you at a dramatically slower rate, since the passage of time is relative to the brain's ability to form memories. This is affected in equal parts by ability with Occlumency and Reinforcement. To get this, you must be a proficient user of both sub-branches of magic."

"This is the greatest day of my life," said Harry with stars in his eyes. Both of these abilities seemed to be a dream come true. He would finally be smarter than Hermione! Unless of course she discovered these powers as well... He smiled, thinking about how great she would be at all of this. "And what about Astral Projections?"

"That is a higher and more specific form of magesight, basically enabling you to traverse the astral plane as easily as the terrestrial. With it you are invisible and intangible, capable of spying on enemies. You are capable of using any mental abilities that you possess while in the astral plane, but can't physically or magically affect anything. And once you can do this, I'll teach you how to set up personalized dominions. These are like pocket dimensions that you can control with your mind. Time and space would have no meaning in them... But anyway, do you have any questions before we start?" asked Chiron.

Harry shook his head and said, "No. Let's begin!"

"Alright, first we'll work on a few mental exercises. The most important part of the mind arts is Occlumency, since an organized mind helps make all of this possible. We're going to start with you trying to relax your mind, releasing stress as best as you can. Try to imagine something in nature, something you find peaceful. Try imagining a beautiful sunset staining the clouds with glorious warm and vibrant colors, waves of a nearby beach glistening with pristine water..."

Harry opened up conversation with his familiar, _"What is shared perception and transference of consciousness? He mentioned them briefly but they've caught my attention."_

_"You're supposed to be relaxing your mind so that you can merge your conscious and subconscious mind and begin trying to organize your ego, id, and superego. But instead you begin talking to me about things that you won't be able to do for a very long time."_Equinox sounded mildly amused, though also quite exasperated.

_"Just tell me what I want to know and I'll get back to work,"_said Harry.

_"Fine, you insufferable little... Shared perception is when all sensory input gathered by either of us is automatically shared, meaning that you would see, hear, smell, taste, and feel everything I do, and vice versa. Transference of consciousness would allow you to briefly control my body as you see fit, to get a better perspective on a situation or enjoy the feelings of unrestrained flight for yourself."_

_"That sounds awesome! Why can't I just learn those now?"_asked Harry.

_"Because both of those abilities require you to be able to utilize mental partitions and thought acceleration, which both require high levels of Occlumency, but also you'll need the ability to secure private mental connections, which requires active Legilimency. Learn Occlumency and become at least proficient before delving into Legilimency and gaining those abilities. You're quite a ways off from any of that... and besides, get back to relaxing your mind,"_replied Equinox.

Harry conceded. He felt somewhat foolish imagining a beautiful sunset, so he began searching for a happy memory. He thought about the memory he used to supply the Patronus that sent scores of dementors scurrying back into the shadows. The memory that _he_ was capable of doing such powerful magic. It was like a self-fulfilling prophesy in a way, a perpetual loop of him saving his younger self with a powerful Patronus, thus giving his younger self the inspiration and power for the exact same action. It hurt his head to think about it, so he concentrated on the feeling that came with it.

It was a wonderful feeling, the first time he ever actually felt a pull on his magical core. _"Cores plural,"_ said Equinox, who was apparently monitoring his thoughts. He suppressed an eye roll and concentrated on the feeling of bliss that he felt at the time. He couldn't allow Sirius to have his soul sucked out, yet thoughts of his godfather were momentarily stricken from his mind when he felt it. Apparently his super efficient cores had never had any task asked of them that sufficiently used enough magic for him to be conscious of the pull. But that Patronus did, and it almost used everything he had.

He'd be lying if he said he didn't feel even a tiny bit of pride at his accomplishment. Some of the stronger professors like Snape and McGonagall would likely be able to do something similar, albeit with multiple guardians, and Flitwick would be able to copy his performance without batting an eyelash, but his fellow third year students would be hard pressed to even create the mist, let alone a corporeal Patronus. Sure Harry couldn't create multiple guardians like he knew some of the more experienced practitioners of magic could do, but the single one he created was enough to get the job done. And Dumbledore's single phoenix Patronus was capable of driving all of the dementors away while he didn't even look winded and caught Harry from a fifty foot drop with a simple levitation charm. Simultaneously.

_"You are powerful, but you are also weak. You have mind boggling amounts of Prana, yet you don't use it effectively and have horrible control over it. And it usually isn't very potent either. You waste a good third of your energy simply overpowering spells when you don't get the correct movement or incantation. We need to work on your ability to control your magic better. While having a quad-core has given you the ability to simply coast by, you're being harmed in the long run. I think you need to practice with a single partition of your magical core working so that you can improve your efficiency and control. While you'd be tempoarily weaker, you'll be much stronger later on."_

_"Thanks Equinox,"_ said Harry. He felt something deep within him change as the bird cut off the magical flow from all but one partition. _"I'm going to need to work on spellcasting from the very beginning, aren't I?"_he asked with disdain.

_"Yes you are. Oh, and it seems that your mind has relaxed enough for you to begin exploring your subconscious. How deep into the rabbit hole are you willing to go?"_

_"That sounded ominous... Well, here goes nothing. Geronimo!"__  
____

"Well this place is oddly depressing," said Harry. It was all dark, nothing to be sensed at all. Beside him were Equinox and Chiron, staring around in amusement.

"Of course your mindscape will appear to be empty, you have yet to explore your subconscious. So everything that should be here is hidden simply because there is nothing to be mentally represented. We're going to be constructing your Occlumency shields from the ground up. Shields are the very first step to abating a mental attack. These can be latent, meaning that they're constantly active but far weaker, or manifest, meaning that you have to manually activate them but they're far stronger," said Chiron.

"How do I create a shield?" asked Harry. "How do they work and what do they entail?"

To this, Equinox replied with a voice that reverberated around them, "The simplest of shields involve images. Think of static black, and use your magic to actualize it. Then, we can begin to upload an image, either a memory or your imagination. The complexity of the image determines the strength of the shield, but only if you're capable of holding it up. Let's start with something basic and elemental, like fire."

At Equinox's words, Harry imagined fire and felt the magic channeling into his head, creating an illusionary shield. At this, Chiron spoke up, "Good. Now try to supply it with motion. This will stimulate more visual potency in the image." Harry did so, and watched as the orange glow of his fiery mental shield became animated. At first it was slowly waving around like lazy seaweed, then it picked up and started blurring because it was too fast. After five minutes of fluctuating his concentration and magic respectively, Harry got it to appear natural.

"Fantastic! Now, try to implement other sensory data such as touch, sound, and smell," continued Equinox. Harry complied and, with teeth grit in concentration, slowly added heat, crackling and popping, and the scent of smoke. "The heat should fluctuate, and the crackling is too repetitive. Also, the scent smells like you're burning incense. Work on them one at a time!" Harry did just that, and slowly, the very fragile and unrealistic fire that was in the distant background of his mindscape began to gain realism.

"Good, you've figured out how to make a rudimentary shield that utilizes all five senses. Now, that was a very basic defense, and its rather fragile if I do say so myself. Since you know practically nothing of ward erection, you can't create any astral wards as of yet to protect your mind, so sheer concentration should do for now, but you can place wards once you learn more about runic sequences, systems, matrices, and arrays. For now, you should be proud having the single flimsy layer that you do. Now, we get to begin with the more complicated parts of mental defenses!" exclaimed Equinox excitedly.

Harry groaned and said, "That was incredibly exhausting! And that was _easy_? Are you insane? There's no way that all that hard work created something so weak. You just can't be serious."

Chiron smiled and said, "Oh? I bet I could tear through that shield in milliseconds. And I bet you would go insane trying to get through the layers of my mental defense."

Harry paled and said, "You know what, I think I really enjoyed this lesson so far. Let's continue as quickly as possible." Chiron grinned smugly and Equinox's chuckles echoed through the cavernous emptiness of Harry's mind.

"Now that you have a basic barrier up," began Chiron, "you need to track down each and every one of your memories, sort through them, and begin cataloging them. This is the beginning to the organization process. Though this is energy intensive at the beginning, you will have close to instant recall once you're done."

"How will I even find my memories in this cavernous nothingness?" asked Harry. "There's nothing distinguishable from the darkness other than us and the flames. And even after that, how would I even begin to manipulate them?"

Equinox's voice rang out, "They're scattered and disorganized at the moment. I suggest chasing after them and rounding them up, hence the exploration of your subconscious. And if you wanted some way to make things more distinctive, why not simply change your mindscape? It is _your_ mindscape after all."

"Change it? What do you mean change it? How could I-" but then he realized what he had to do. "I need to concentrate on creating an entire world, don't I?" asked Harry. He saw Chiron smile in answer to his question, and he knew that he was correct. That didn't mean that he couldn't feel horror at being given such a daunting and monumental task though.

Harry grunted and said, "Well I'll need a source of light, so I might as well-" but a bright ball of light filled up the sky. "That was surprisingly easy," he said in exasperation. "Alright, how about some stable ground..." And then blades of grass stretched on for as far as the eye could see, before meeting the barrier of fire and stopping abruptly. He noticed that there was a blue sky, but the world around him still felt dead. "I still don't see where my memories-" and then thousands upon thousands of flowers began popping out of the ground.

"Good luck Harry!" exclaimed Equinox happily. Harry could feel the bird's amusement as he stared helplessly at all the flowers. Was he expected to pick all of these flowers and move them into a pile? "Oh no, you're supposed to place them in different piles depending on their size, shape, color, scent, and texture! Have fun!" Oh he would get back at that black phoenix if it was the last thing he would do. He watched helplessly as his familiar and Chiron sat down and watched him with amused grins on their faces.

Harry grumbled about the unfairness of his tragic life before he began picking the closest patch of daisies. When he was far enough away that he wouldn't be able to hear them, Chiron turned to Equinox and said, "I wonder how long it'll take for him to realize that, what with him being the master of the mindscape, he could simply imagine them all sorted into neat piles? Then all he'd have to do is label the piles..." Equinox smirked, despite birds not supposed to be able to have human facial expressions.

"And I wonder why they're flowers in the first place." They both laughed.  
_

Dumbledore discreetly checked the instruments that tracked Harry and his eyes nearly bugged out in surprise. Harry wasn't at Number Four Privet Drive like he was supposed to be, nor was he at the Burrow which was the only other option that would have somewhat calmed the old man. No, Harry Potter was on the Hogwarts grounds! Though the instruments weren't terribly specific, they seemed to be showing Harry in the general direction of the ForbiddenForest. "Oh Harry, what have you gotten yourself into this time?" he asked with slight irritation coloring his voice.  
_

"You guys could've told me that twenty minutes ago!" yelled Harry in exasperation. The phoenix and centaur both just chuckled happily at him. There were over forty separate piles of flowers surrounding them, which only seemed to increase their amusement.

"Relax Harry, for every level further into your mind we delve, time is twenty times slower. Only about two minutes have passed on the outside since we've entered your mindscape. Now that you've discovered how the primary level of your mindscape works, you should create a structure to house your memories, and maybe transfigure them into something like books? That would help..."

Harry sighed and said, "So how am I capable of simply controlling everything in this place? I know its my mind, but shouldn't there be limitations to magic use even here?" As he said this, he created a mansion out of nothingness. The flowers all transfigured into books and lined the walls of the mansion.

Equinox replied, "Because we aren't in reality. We're inside a fantasy world, or more specifically, your fantasy world. You can control everything within this place. It is fueled by your imagination and concentration rather than magic."

"I think Harry's worked hard enough for today. Even though it was only two minutes of work, he's already organized his mind, albeit your mansion is overflowing with books. You should find a way to circumvent that since its your mindscape. I used Undetectable Extension Charms in the memory housing structure of my mindscape, maybe you should too? We'll meet again next week to see how you've improved. Don't forget your exercises and you should be able to delve even further into the mind arts."

The mindscape started to get hazy, and Harry soon found himself back in the real world. He sat up, stretched, and Equinox returned to his magical core in the same dramatic fashion as always. "_Alright, I should have gotten replies for my letters by now, and I'd like to tell Hermione about what's happened today_," said Harry internally to Equinox. Before the bird could reply, he said, "Thank you for the lesson. I'll come back next Friday?" Chiron nodded and Harry smiled before disappearing in a burst of black fire.

At the exact same moment, Albus Dumbledore appeared in a flash of orange fire and said, "Where's Harry? He's in grave danger when away from his home and I know he's here, I just saw as much on a magical instrument in my office."

Chiron looked in confusion at Dumbledore and said, "No human being is allowed on these lands, including you. Who do you think you are, to trespass and arrogantly ask us for answers?" Several centaurs snickered at Bane, who said almost the exact same thing to Harry earlier.


	8. Act One: Privet Drive

_The omnipresent cold and darkness was typical in his cell at Azkaban, but Sirius Black would not succumb to the madness that claimed so many others. The idea of his innocence was what had helped him live through the fear, anger, and sorrow that he was constantly subjected to for the past ten years. Being in his animagus form helped alleviate some of the emotional turmoil that pervaded the prison, but it was his conviction that one day justice would be served that kept him alive and sane for so long._

_But when the coldness, darkness, and emotions started growing in intensity, he knew something was wrong. At least three dementors were nearby, close enough for him to hear their rattling breaths sucking the happiness and warmth from the air around him. So they were finally going to take his soul away, huh? Well, he wouldn't go down without a fight. Lack of a wand, malnutrition, and a blossoming insanity notwithstanding, Sirius morphed into the grim he nicknamed Padfoot and waited for them to open his cell door. This would be his one chance to escape. If he failed, a fate worse than death awaited him. If he succeeded, he could finally be there for his godson._

_The thought of little baby Harry was what spurred Sirius Black to continue. The thick iron door of his stone cell slowly opened, sending shivers of fear and cold down his canine spine. The paltry light leaking in through the sliver of fresh air was a welcome change to the dismal darkness he was used to, but it burned his eyes. The starlight on this cloudy new moon night was too bright for him, so he closed his watering eyes and used his advanced senses of smell and hearing to detect his enemies and surroundings._

_The dark robed figures ghosted eerily into his room, searching for a human. Luckily they weren't smart enough to realize that he was now a dog, and he slipped right past them, out into the chilly corridors of __Britain__'s maximum security prison. He quietly padded his way out the prison. Without looking back, he hightailed it out of there at full speed, jumping into the icy waters of the __North Sea__. He would be with Harry soon, no matter what._

Padfoot awoke with a start. The black dog looked around groggily for a moment before remembering. Northern Scotland... Harry... The dog felt pain as it thought about how things ended. But it couldn't go back to Britain, because nearly everyone knew about him now. He thought about writing to Harry, but that would probably make things even worse. He whimpered pathetically and curled up, hoping to go back to sleep soon. For some reason, he felt that something terrible was going to happen soon. And as a dog, he knew just how accurate his instincts could be about such things...

Maybe he should go visit Harry after all. He'd miss the tropical weather and scantily clad women of southern France, especially the bodacious blonde babe that kept feeding him scraps of exquisite French cuisine outside her oceanfront mansion and scratch his belly. But he could always come back if his instincts were wrong...  
_

Harry sat down on his bed, stretching. The day had been quite trying, and he needed a nap. Unfortunately, at that precise moment, Uncle Vernon decided to yell up at him, "Boy, its time for you to begin your chores! I want you to dust the whole house, vacuum the whole house, take all the trash out, do everyone's laundry, mop the whole house, mow the lawn, pull weeds, trim our hedges, wash our cars, and repaint the parts of the fence that need touching up! Until then, you won't get any dinner!"

Harry rolled his eyes and yelled back, "I won't be doing any of those things, and by the way, MAGIC, MAGIC, MAGIC!" They absolutely hated the M-Word. It was almost as if he were using curse words loud enough for the neighbors to hear. But he wasn't going to take their crap any longer.

Vernon sounded like he was about to have a stroke, "BOY, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?"

Harry nearly laughed at how utterly predictable his 'family' was and ran out of his room into the hallway so that everybody in the house could hear him, "I refuse to act as your house elf any longer! You are all miserable and insufferable people who are jealous of my abilities with MOTHER FUCKING MAGIC and are trying to keep me from flourishing!"

_"You should mention to them how Petunia actually wrote to Dumbledore asking for a place at Hogwarts,"_ said Equinox.

Harry started howling with laughter. "And to top it all off, Aunt Petunia wrote a letter to the Headmaster of my school when she was a little girl and BEGGED to be included with the supposed FREAKS! That just makes you a WANNABE FREAK!" He heard Vernon splutter in indignation, confusion, denial, and humiliation.

"Is that true Petunia?" he asked in disbelief.

There was an audible sob of shame, and Harry returned to his room after slamming the door hard. He felt no pity for the abusive and negligent people that he'd been stuck with for the past thirteen years, nor did he even care that he pulled the rug out right from underneath their feet. He walked over to a nearby desk and noticed that he got replies from both Mrs. Weasley and Professor Lupin._"But he's not a professor any longer..."_ said Equinox sadly.

"No, he isn't," agreed Harry. His eyes hungrily tore through their letters. He first read Mrs. Weasley's letter.

_Dear Harry,_

_We would be honored to take you earlier. We can pick you up in a week, and you can stay with us until you need to go to school. Dumbledore at first refused to let you leave altogether, but he compromised with Arthur for only a single week spent in the company of those horrible people. I initially wanted to take you immediately, but that didn't go over very well. Also, everyone says hello to you. And Bill and Charlie can't wait to meet you too._

_Love,_

_Molly Weasley.  
_

He was disappointed to learn that the Weasley family wouldn't be able to have him for another three days, since the letter was over four days old. The sound of his uncle shouting and his aunt wailing was echoing throughout the house. Harry didn't feel an ounce of sympathy for the family that ruined his childhood. He may have put a strain on their marriage, but he didn't plan on seeing them ever again so it didn't really matter. Besides, if he kept that information to himself, he'd be lying by omission.

"_And lying is wrong_," intoned his familiar. Chuckling, Harry shrunk down his magical trunk and put it in his pocket. There were no clothes in it since he didn't plan on bringing any of Dudley's way too large hand-me-downs. He had a shit load of gold in his Trust Fund Vault, and besides, once he came of age he'd be able to buy all of Europe and still have money left over.

He was pleased to note that Lupin's letter was right next to the Weasley family's letter.

_Dear Harry,_

_I would look into whether a werewolf could adopt human minors, but I already know that it isn't allowed. You see, after the events of the night in which you became the Boy-Who-Lived, and your parents were murdered, and Peter betrayed us, and Sirius was wrongly incarcerated... I checked up on that to see whether I could raise you, but it is against Ministry regulations to allow a dangerous downworlder like myself to be unsupervised in the presence of a magical minor, especially a celebrity like yourself._

_I couldn't even visit you, and for that I'm deeply sorry, but I'll make it up to you one day... somehow..._

_Sincerely,_

_Lupin.  
_

He just now realized how absolutely horrible that night must have been for Professor Lupin, what with all of his closest friends either dying, disappearing, or betraying each other. Frowning in thought, Harry quickly wrote a note to Lupin thanking him for telling him, as well as apologizing for ripping open old emotional wounds. He also wrote a Weasley matriarch thanking her for being a gracious host, but telling her that he had his own transportation and that she didn't have to worry about that.

He then quickly wrote a letter to Hermione that basically just told her that he had an amazing adventure already during the summer that he'd tell her about in person. He didn't think it wise to explain the significance of Equinox in a letter, nor his recent contemplation about the abandonment of his humanity. Nor the various bloodline abilities that flowed through his veins, or Dumbledore's machinations, or really any of the revelations of the day.

"Just a few more days until I'm at the Burrow and Dumbledore won't be monitoring my actions as much..."

The next few nights he would write a letter to Hermione or Ron, though Equinox told him to write letters to Cho Chang, Luna Lovegood, Susan Bones, and Daphne Greengrass too. He never questioned his orders from the bird and simply did as he was told, especially since one was the heiress of a crime syndicate, three were the scions of Most Ancient and Revered Houses, and the other obviously had some sort of connections. It wasn't until Equinox said, _"You need to get more friends than just Ron and Hermione,"_ that he realized just how small his social circle was. He really hadn't made any friends other than those two, and Ron was quite annoying at times.

While he did find Cho attractive, the fact that her family was heavily involved in the black market and could be considered a crime family made him a bit wary to contact her. But he was surprised when she replied with apparent gusto, obviously quite attention starved. Though she was very pretty, it was an intimidating sort of beauty that made girls jealous and boys too afraid to talk to her. Plus there was xenophobia rampant among most of the blood purist elites and anybody who knew about her family would likely not want to get mixed up in such things. She was a very cheerful and vibrant girl, and he was thinking about asking her out on a date. Plus Equinox said she was a part of his plans...

Luna Lovegood was something of a question mark. She seemed like a sweet, albeit lost, girl the one time he talked to her, but he didn't realize that she too was just as craving of approval. Apparently she watched her mother die and just cracked along with her father. Ever since then she's been strange, constantly trying to catch attention by being incredibly deviant from the social norms. Subsequently she believed in many creatures that sounded almost made up on the spot, or else she simply went along with whatever her father said because he was still grieving. The only thing he really knew about her was that she was strange. And that she used a conspicuous amount of sexual innuendos in her letters. Whether on purpose or not, he didn't know or want to find out.

The scion of the Most Ancient and Revered House of Bones appeared to be one of his many fan-girls. It was actually pretty amusing to talk to her since she made such a big deal out of his opinions, apparently accepting them as facts handed down to her from a god. He idly wondered if she had a powerful bloodline ability, but wasn't sure if asking such things in a letter would be considered impolite, so he simply kept his curiosity to himself. She was a very big authority over the rumor mill at Hogwarts, even on the same level as Parvati and Lavender of Gryffindor. That could be very helpful later on.

And then there was Daphne of the Most Ancient and Revered House of Greengrass. The purported Ice Queen of Slytherin was polite in her reply, concise even, but he got the sense that she was only writing back due to the social protocols of being the scion of a conservative noble house. She was likely trying to figure out where his sudden attention was coming from, since he hadn't talked to her yet in any of their classes for the past three years. Not one damn time. What exactly Equinox saw in her, Harry had just as hard a time finding out as with Padma. But at least he knew she was a political monster, apparently having been tutored in politics around the same time he was learning how to curb the constant hunger that came with living with the Dursleys through sheer willpower. About the same time they could walk.

There didn't appear to be any books listing the exact bloodline abilities of the various noble houses that dotted the British political landscape, and for likely paranoid reasons too, which annoyed him to no end. He was curious what Susan, Luna, and Daphne were gifted with as soon as they were born. Natural affinities for Occlumency and Legilimency? An advanced healing factor or precognitive abilities? There were any number of things it could be, yet there really was no way to find out from where he was without appearing invasive.  
_

Albus Dumbledore was now considerably less stressed than he was only days ago. "Harry's at the Dursley home again, and soon he'll be at the burrow," he said to himself. For a while he was worried about the boy's autonomous behavior, but it seemed like it was just a phase. He chuckled to himself in relief as he looked at the pile of paperwork on his desk that he'd been putting off in favor of re-instituting the Order of the Phoenix. With Pettigrew's resurgence and Potter's momentary disappearance, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Now the mountain of paperwork seemed quite daunting.

He sighed and got to work, thinking about the Order. The Weasleys were surefire supporters, as were the staff in Hogwarts and a few members of the Old Crowd. He needed more contacts in the Ministry, Wizengammot, and Gringotts. A few people in the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Department of Mysteries, and Department of Magical Transportation would be very helpful. Kingsley Shackelbolt and his protege Nymphadora Tonks would be incredibly beneficial to his cause; one being an M-Class duelist and the other a metamorphmagus. Tonks would be almost perfect in espionage missions...

Again, he sighed as he redirected his attention to the papers before him. The Triwizard Tournament was being reintroduced after several centuries. This was a ploy on his part to test the dispositions of the other centers of wizarding power in Europe, possibly ask for neutrality, or even an alliance in the coming war with Voldemort. Plus he could test Harry's abilities in the face of insurmountable odds and possible isolation. This would be his first year actually studying the child directly as opposed to simply asking for reports at staff meetings. The ghosts, house elves, suits of armor, portraits, and even Peeves were all on his side... but how to get Harry into the tournament without insulting his potential allies?

He would think about that later. Now he needed to decide how to impress his foreign neighbors. More clubs, more electives, interschool competition, and the implementation of a new security measure all seemed like good fits. Hopefully, the Ministry's latest interest in the school would wane...

His alarm clock sounded and he realized that he was late for an appointment. Swiftly, he threw a pinch of blue powder into his fireplace, turning the flames green, before stepping through and shouting his location.  
_

Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, was sitting quietly at her desk when her fireplace flared to life. The head of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore appeared in her office. "Is there something I can help you with, Professor?" she asked dryly. He rarely called upon her, so this was obviously the case.

Smiling benignly, the old man replied, "There is, actually. I would like to set up a personal guard detail around Harry Potter, what with Sirius Black still being on the loose and out for his blood. I'd be willing to hire any Hit Wizard you have, though I think this might require a pair of Aurors considering who's targeting the boy. If you accept, I'd gladly owe you a favor." Of course, Dumbledore knew that Sirius was innocent but that wasn't public knowledge yet.

Madam Bones looked at him with squinted eyes, trying to discern what the old man wanted. Rarely was a request from Dumbledore so straight forward, and even rarer was him asking without any obvious wordplay or doublespeak being incorporated to mislead her. "Alright," she said, since this was a legitimate reason for security, but also because refusing to gain a favor from Dumbledore down the line was plain stupid. "Do you have any Aurors in mind for this assignment?" she asked with a slight tilt to her head.

"I'd prefer Auror Kingsley and Auror Tonks if that would be possible," said the Chief Warlock. "Do you think they could be discreet about protecting him, maybe even not letting him know that they're watching?" he asked.

She narrowed her eyes and said, "It would be better for them to be out in the open. Aurors would be a healthy deterrent to anybody trying to harm the boy in any way. Also, you made it seem as if they'd be spying on the boy..."

Dumbledore coughed and said, "Well, its your call. You'll find him at the Burrow, the Weasley family's residence." She nodded her understanding and he left, his head disappearing in a burst of green fire.

She tapped her hand a few times on her desk, lost in a flurry of thoughts. Sighing, she muttered, "I have a terrible feeling about this..."


	9. Act One: Castle de Volikar

**Chapter Notes: I know this is a short chapter, but I had to split the next chapter because... well that's a f***ing surprise. I'm aware of the fact that I don't need to bleep out notes if I'm already using that word in the story, but it just felt right, ya know?**

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Harry found himself at Belmont's Place yet again, engulfed in black flames for a few brief moments before it naturally dissipated. Without even looking up, the Vampire Lord said, "Hello Harry, how are you doing on this fine day? Its only been about," at this point he dramatically raised his right arm up to his eye, looking at a nonexistent timepiece, "-fourteen minutes since you were last here. Is there a reason that you're back so soon?"

Sighing, the Boy-Who-Lived said, "I'm ready to accept becoming a Vampire Lord. I've seriously thought about it, and this is my decision."

Durza's crimson orbs finally looked up from the ledger that he was previously examining, and he tilted his head to the side curiously. "Are you sure you want to end your humanity so early? I mean, I'm all for you gaining untold amounts of power, but are you sure you want the thirst and lust? If you aren't constantly vigilant, you could become a slave to such base instincts. Of course, with your Occlumency... Alright, I deem you worthy of possessing this noble bloodline ability."

"Vampirism is a bloodline ability?" asked Harry in mild surprise. It actually somewhat made sense when he thought about it.

"Yes. It is transferred by injecting blood straight into somebody. However, the vampirism that ails the common vampire is a lesser form. The Volikar coven has one of the six clans to have a Crest capable of unlocking more vampiric abilities. Ours just further augments our physical attributes by another factor of six, while other clans have been known to have the ability to manipulate and merge with shadows, shift into an incorporeal form such as mist or fog, command creatures of the night, and things of that sort," answered Durza.

"Can any bloodline ability be transplanted from one person to another?" asked Harry.

"Almost all of them, though they'd still have to be forcibly activated or exposed to a Crest. I believe that this is how you came to have Parseltongue, albeit a diluted derivative of the original. The Dark Lord, through his incompetence, inadvertently gifted you with one of his most prized abilities after he failed to assassinate you as an infant," answered Durza.

_"Wow, that just makes him sound like a pretty worthless adversary. Though when you consider the general ineptitude that ails the Ministry of Magic..."_ added in Equinox.

"To become a member of the Volikar coven, you must attain the status of a vampire lord, which requires you to come with me to Castle Volikar. Lord Harkon, the patriarch of the Volikar family for the past thirteen hundred years, is the only one capable of giving you this gift," said Durza.

"Why is that?" questioned the fourteen year old.

"Because the Volikar Coven Crest is sealed within Lord Harkon's body. He will undoubtedly have some kind of test to prove whether you're worthy of joining the upper caste of the vampire nation, though it could be anything so be ready for it. If he decides that you are worthy, he will bite you, thus injecting his blood into you," said Durza. Harry looked a little uneasy so the vampire lord continued, "Think of it like gene therapy; the dominant vampire blood destroys unnecessary human gene sequences and rebuilds them in a more perfect image."

"Oh," said Harry. How else could he reply to that? Answers always had to be somewhat in-depth when coming from Durza, otherwise it wouldn't really be the same. Regardless, it was still a little frightening realizing that pieces of your genetic code were going to be rewritten soon. And a person was nothing but a collection of their genes and memes, nature and nurture, instinct and learned behavior. So what if one of those things was changed? Would he change as a person too, or would he remain largely the same?

_"Let's get on with it already!"_ cried out Equinox for both to hear. Harry and Durza chuckled as the redhead put on a glove.

"Alright Harry," began Durza, "-we're going to use this portkey," he said as he gestured to the glove with his uncovered hand, "-and we're going to travel to the docks of Isle de Volikar since you aren't authorized to pass the wards yet. We'll have to walk about a mile before we reach the castle. Once there, you'll need to stick close to me. Otherwise, a Vampire Mistress may turn you into her mindless thrall. While you would certainly enjoy being a sex slave and blood donor I think you'd want to keep your freedom and sanity, no?"

"That sounds about right," said Harry as he took Durza's hand, almost as if they were simply shaking hands. Most people would probably frown with the Savior of the Light shaking hands with a downworlder like Durza, but they would be downright alarmed if they knew that he would be joining them soon. But what they don't know won't hurt them, right? In a swirl of kaleidoscopic color and motion, the unlikely duo suddenly slammed hard into the ground. Harry's legs quaked from the unexpected feeling since he'd never traveled by portkey before, and he fell down.

The Vampire Lord looked down at him and said, "Do not display such signs of weakness among my family. We are a race of predators, bred for the sole purpose of detecting and exploiting human weaknesses. If you make one false move, there is no way you could fight, run, hide, or even refuse us. We are powerful, fast, perceptive, and attractive. Don't show signs of weakness, yet don't challenge their authority. Don't be aggressive or passive, but be assertive. Hopefully my vouching for you will prevent them from simply snacking on you..."

Harry's stomach was starting to feel queasy. "You're really good at prep talks, you know that?"

Durza bowed and said, "At your service Lord Potter." Grumbling, Harry stood up and they began walking to the castle in the distance. It was still roughly afternoon, yet somehow the entire island appeared to be covered in darkness somehow. "Since this is as close as we can get to the castle by portkey due to the wards, we're going to have to talk about something, and I'd really like to know where you are in your studies at the moment. A quick review session shouldn't hurt your chances of passing Lord Harkon's test..."

Harry nodded and said, "I basically know absolutely nothing about magical theory or the branches of magic, because apparently the Hogwarts curriculum is lacking. In fact, I've learned more in the past day than in several years of attending Hogwarts, but that's neither here nor there. I know a bunch of minor hexes, jinxes, charms, and curses, but that's about it." Durza stared at him for a few moments in thought before sighing.

"You're totally fucked, but they already know you're here and won't accept you later if you back out now," said Durza, more to himself than anything else. "It looks like we're going to have a last minute cram session, just like the night before a big exam in school." Harry started feeling acutely uneasy the more Durza kept muttering to himself.

The long and windy road was elevating at a precarious slope, granting them more time as they trudged on. Durza smiled and said, "My father, Lord Harkon, enjoys ancient runes, so there's a good probability that you might be tested in them. Since it would be impossible to teach you any languages in only a few moments, we'll just go over the basics."

"That sounds like a good idea, though I'm not sure what good it'll do with such little time," said Harry.

"Think positive, my young padawan," said Durza. Ignoring Harry's confusion at that statement, he continued, "There are three major sub-branches of magic that utilize ancient runes as their major focus or driving force; alchemy, enchanting, and wards. Alchemy is changing the physical makeup of something by using transmutation circles made of ancient runes as the conduit for magic as opposed to a wand."

The road began twisting and turning as it slowly wound its way through an eerily silent and dark forest, the lack of distractions helping Harry concentrate on absorbing the material. "Arithmancy is quite likely the most complicated yet important field of magic in existence, since it involves the interpretation of eternano charges in the world around us, which breaks them into definable numerical values. The numbers are long repetitive lines of alpha, beta, gamma, and delta that show how magic is combined or permuted into the matter or energy being examined," explained Durza.

The road was eventually rising into misty foothills shrouded in the darkness of the strangely lit afternoon hour, the cold air helping Harry to focus even more. "It is an incredibly powerful tool for the usage of Ancient Runes in enchantments, wards, and transmutation circles, as well as Herbology and Potioneering. Anything and everything that exists has a numerical value in this system, though it could go on for billions of digits to describe something as mundane as water. Thus thought acceleration and memory partition are requirements for using this field effectively. It is taught at Hogwarts, but only the most elementary of basics."

The cobblestone road abruptly exited the foothills and began rising onto a steep crag on the far end of the island, away from the docks where they originated. "The Law of Equivalent Exchange, which basically states that 'in order for something to be gained or created, something of equal or greater value must be destroyed in the process.' I've noticed that this law keeps popping up in many of the other branches of magic too, meaning that its far more elementary than one would have you believe. Even Potions used this law to a certain degree," tutored Durza.

There was a small gorge separating a veritable fortress of obsidian from the main part of the island, connected only by a single dark oaken drawbridge. "Well at least I can cast spells, even if they aren't exactly powerful or useful in the sort of situation I'm about to find myself in. How do I keep ending up in such bizarre scenarios anyway? Honestly, this isn't even the most dangerous thing I've done in the past month," said Harry, thinking about his meeting with a potential murderer which was quickly ruined by the revelation of Pettigrew, appearance of Snape, and random attack of Lupin.

"Oh really? What are the three verbal and two manual components of a proper incantation?" quizzed Durza, wondering if the staff at Hogwarts bothered teaching such refined mechanics any more, or even if they knew about such practices. Seeing Harry's blank stare, Durza knew they hadn't taught it to him. "Geez, what kind of school have you been in for the past few years? That's a rhetorical question; don't answer it."

"So what exactly are the verbal and manual components?" asked Harry.

"The three verbal components are pronunciation, enunciation, and intonation," recited Durza. "They help in the spellcasting process, aiding the brain in coding your od so that it can rewrite mana in the surrounding area for a temporary amount of time. As for the manual components, well: the position of the palm, fingers, and knuckles directly affects the flow of magic while a precise polyhedrical motion path also aids in that. The wand's velocity must be directly proportional to the strength and finesse of the spell."

"I haven't been paying attention to any of that when I cast spells, and they seem to work just fine..." said Harry, a little unsure of whether it was really that difficult to do anything.

"While magic is sentient and capable of simply following one's will, that only really applies to extremely overpowering spells like it seems that you've been doing for years. It's going to be a difficult habit to break, but Occlumency could help erase redundant memories and form new memories much faster. I think your overall learning curve will be improving daily due to your growing abilities in the mental arts under my tutelage," said Durza.

"I've actually already got an instructor for the mental arts; he's a centaur named Chiron..." said Harry.

Durza's smile took on a forced quality and he said, "We can talk about that later, but for now we've done all we really have the time to do..." As they walked across the bridge, Harry couldn't help but look over the edge into the chasm below. He saw dangerous and unnatural spires rising off the floor, and several had bodies skewered onto them. Holding in a gag at the imagery, Harry returned to the task of approaching the formidable citadel. He didn't want to think about the swarms of animated corpses that he saw roaming around below them, feasting on the corpses of the impaled... "By the way, those are inferi, in case you're wondering," said Durza. Harry'd never heard that word before, but the term 'zombie' certainly comes to mind when seeing such a sight.

Before he knew it, they were across the bridge and standing in a courtyard. A door ahead of them stood slightly ajar, and he could hear merry laughter floating through the air towards them. As they drew closer, the doors swung open of their own accord and gave way to a strange scene. _"Well I don't know about you, but nothing seems more cheery than the atmosphere of this tropical paradise," _said Equinox, while Harry was having a difficult time comprehending what he was observing.

The entrance hall also appeared to be the dining hall and throne room, as lining the left and right walls were long tables with many people sitting at them, and many people being served as meals on the tables. The thralls, who were laying on the table and willingly being cut open for their mistresses' and masters' nourishment, were moaning with elation. They seemed to enjoy being mutilated...

Harry felt somewhat sick, but he really needed the powers and diplomatic immunity of a vampire lord. He wouldn't force people to become his thralls when he joined the undead himself...

Directly facing the entryway, on the other side of the room, was a dark throne and a heavily armored man whose bright red eyes immediately landed on Harry and Durza. The man, obviously Lord Harkon, slowly sat up straighter. His voice was deep and commanding as it boomed forth from him, "Durza, what an unexpected surprise! And it seems that you brought your old man a snack as well!" He licked his lips as he eyes Harry's veins, "And I detect very powerful magic in this one..."

Harry sensed that he was in danger, and he felt his body temperature rising. He yearned to release Equinox's ebony flames on the man that very casually threatened his life. Trying not to show any outward anger, Harry stepped forward and said, "Lord Harkon I presume?" Several vampires blurred into existence around him, baring their sharp canines at him. He didn't react to their presence whatsoever, his eyes only trained on the leader of the coven. Harry watched in satisfaction as the man nodded his head with something like fascination. "I wish to become a vampire lord, and I hear that you're the one to see for that."

Harkon smirked and said, "One does not simply request things of me." The room stilled, and the temperature seemed to drop. Or at least, it did around Harkon. Harry noticed that several vampires near the coven's leader had misty breath, similar to how one would be around a Dementor. But there were waves of heat radiating off of Harry, and those closest to him were actually sweating. People in the middle of the room looked very uncomfortable to be hot on one side and cold on the other.

"I apologize, I wasn't trying to seem aggressive or anything," said Harry. "I've been told that you'll test me somehow to see whether I'm fit to join your ranks, and I'm not very good at waiting for things to happen to me, so can we please get this melodramatic standoff over with?" asked Harry. His voice had a steel edge to it as it echoed through the spacious entrance hall.

At that moment, one of the more beautiful women sitting around Lord Harkon leaned in and whispered something to him. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second and he breathed in, his nostrils flaring from the effort. He smiled evilly, his body poised to strike at any moment. "I see you have the bloodline abilities of the Gryffindor,, Slytherin, Peverell, Black, and Potter families. What is to keep me from just sucking you dry and taking them for myself?" asked Harkon.

At this, Harry tilted his head to the side in thought. A moment later Harry said, "I am Harry James Potter, scion to the Most Ancient and Revered House of Peverell and the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter. I am the Boy-Who-Lived. If something bad happens to me, there will be serious political repercussions, plus I could use my celebrity status to help you guys out with wizards if ever you have need of me."

Lord Harkon breathed out slowly and said, "I find you amusing. Not many would dare to disrespect me in my own castle, let alone threaten me while surrounded by most of my cohorts and subordinates. However, you revealed that you don't understand how Crests work, showing that you're incapable of cunning at the moment, though that could be fixed in time..."

Harry blinked incredulously, "So what exactly does a Crest do then?"

"You seem to understand its major function and purpose respectively, but it can only fill those out when certain conditions are met. Those being that my magical signature is required to activate the Crest, and there is no known way to replicate something like that. This Crest would be worthless to you, as only one of my heirs would be capable of awakening the higher form of vampirism that you seek, and you certainly wouldn't be able to access the knowledge stored in its seals," explained Harkon.

"Well crap. How was I supposed to know something like that about something I hadn't even heard about until earlier this morning?" asked Harry rhetorically.

Harkon studied him for a little while longer before saying, "This is my decree: to gain the ascended form of vampirism that you seek, you must first survive for one hour in our dungeons. If you survive, an elevated existence awaits." At those words, several nearby vampires grabbed him roughly and dragged him out of the throne room. Durza had the good sense to look apologetic, but Harry was too busy going over possibilities in his head. Harry didn't like the sound of this, but he still had his wand and trump card, a living phoenix sealed within his own body. If anything tried to attack him down there, they would be burnt to a crisp with no remorse whatsoever on his part.

It would be their faults for attacking him in the first place. Besides, he was seriously in a bad mood now. "Its just one hour," said Harry to himself, "-how bad could it possibly be?" He tried his best to ignore Equinox's answering snort of derision.


	10. Act One: Dungeons de Volikar

**Chapter Notes: First chapter totally made of original content, and first major action scene in the entire story so far. Thought I'd break the monotony of character and setting development this way.**

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Yaxley was sitting in his dank, dark cell. Cell wasn't exactly the right term for where he was; it was more like a giant pit with all sorts of phantasmal creatures coming for him at all hours of both day and night. He didn't know how long he'd been there, forced to feast upon the flesh of the gruesome creatures that he killed simply to survive. Was it a week since he was captured; a month since he last felt wind or sunlight? He no longer cared anymore.

He'd long since given up on any hope of escape, despite the fact that they left him with his wand. His captors laughed as they told him how amusing it would be to watch him struggle for existence, and how just killing him or leaving him defenseless would be too boring. That was the problem with immortals; they took unnecessary risks because there was rarely ever any consequences to their actions and they could get away with it. At first he thought it foolish of them, but now he knew that they were sitting above him, eating snacks as if he were a gladiator.

It seemed that everything was made of either stygian iron, celestial bronze, imperial gold, blessed iron, electrum, or even adamas. His cell was worth more gold than the entire Crouch family manor, which was saying something. There was no way he could use magic to escape because of the material making up his cell's composition, and he would never be able to force his way out of a similar construction without magic anyways.

He sincerely regretted volunteering for the envoy to the vampire nation on behalf of his master, Lord Voldemort, but there was nothing he could do about it any longer. The bell sounded again, signaling that another wave of creatures that would try to kill him. He sighed and popped his neck, reactivating his 'survival of the fittest' mentality. Hopefully there would only be one heavy-class creature this time. He was still healing from the last time he faced two trolls at once.

But then something strange happened: a child was pushed into the pit alongside him. Yaxley's heart soared at the thought of finally having a companion, a friend, possibly even somebody to rape occasionally. What? Despite the circumstances, he was still a Death Eater at heart, and he was actually quite tame in comparison to Bellatrix Lestrange of MacNair. He only used the cruciatus curse on people _after_he was finished raping them, but some people did both simultaneously. He honestly couldn't understand wanting all the pain at once. Wasn't it better to spread the fear and agony out?

He approached the boy, possibly a teenager but too thin to really tell the age correctly. The child had a messy mop of raven black hair, which seemed oddly familiar to Yaxley. Maybe he raped the kid's mother? Or possibly a father? Maybe an older sister or brother? He'd done it so many times that he lost count, but he definitely recognized that distinctive hair style.

The boy groaned and rolled over, staring up at the distant hole in the ceiling and muttering, "Of course the dungeon is literally a giant hole in the ground. And of course they just toss me in and expect everything to work out alright for me. Bastards." Then the boy noticed Yaxley studying him, and said, "Hello, who are you?"

"The name's Yaxley, and don't you forget it. However, isn't it rude to just fall into somebody's hole and start demanding their name?" said Yaxley.

The boy chuckled, the sound so long-forgotten and alien to Yaxley that he didn't even know what it was anymore, and he flinched as if it was the guttural call of an imp, or maybe the distant growl of an accromantula? "What's your name, boy?" asked the man that was slowly getting more mentally unhinged as the moments passed by. He hadn't let up his staggering walk over to the boy, and was now staring into the child's eyes. Bright green eyes, the unique eyes of a mudblood whore that he never got to have but always wanted. What was her name? Lily Evans? No, it was Lily Potter-

Potter. Lily Evans married James Potter. They had a son, named Harry, Harry Potter. Harry Potter hurt his master. His master left a distinctive scar on his forehead-

And then Yaxley saw the tell-tale lightning bolt scar on the boy's visage, and knew that standing before him was the bane of his master, the one responsible for destroying the master's body and sending his friends to Azkaban, sending _him _to Azkaban. "No! I won't go back!" screamed Yaxley, raising his wand and shouting, "Avada Kedav-"

Harry, not wanting to know what Abra Kadabra did, pulled his own wand out and shouted the first thing that came to mind, "Expelliarmis!" The fact that he shouted an incantation with five syllables in the same amount of time that Yaxley took for a single one showed just how much potential Harry had at dueling. The man was hit in the chest and sent back a few feet, giving Harry enough time to jump to his feet and gain some more distance.

The clearly insane Yaxley, who was already a psychopath before coming to this pit and being subjected to countless tortures, started laughing madly as he said, "You! You're the one, the reason that I had to go away, why my master was dead for a little while. But now he's back and I know, and he knows where I am and who you are. He'll get revenge on you, but first _I'll _get revenge on _you_. Crucio!"

Harry, not knowing what Crucio did, did the only logical thing and jumped out of the way, landing on a pile of bones before rolling back to his feet. "Of course there's a random bloke that works for Voldemort down here," muttered Harry in annoyance. Honestly, by now he should see this sort of thing coming, shouldn't he?

_"Be careful Harry, that's a real life Death Eater," _said Equinox. Sensing Harry's confusion, the pyromaniac bird added, _"They were the followers of Voldemort during his Reign of Darkness. Being one of them, h__e's raped, tortured, and killed many people in the name of his master over the span of his pathetic life, so watch out for brutal tactics. Though I do wonder how he's even here; h__e's supposed to be in Azkaban right now..."_

_"How do you know all of this?" _asked Harry.

_"Now isn't the time to talk, Harry," _chided Equinox. Not being able to logically argue the point any further, Harry nodded and raised his wand to cast another spell, but Yaxley cackled maniacally and began spewing forth spells at nearly three times the speed that he was previously. If Harry hadn't had the reflexes of a legendary quidditch seeker, he'd likely be a pile of goo by now.

_"How is he this powerful?" _wondered Harry. _"Quirrel, Tom Riddle, and Pettigrew weren't capable of this!" _exclaimed Harry as he ducked behind a convenient nearby pile of dead phantasmal creatures that he couldn't properly identify. Their corpses were all mangled beyond description, in some cases just piles of oddly shaped bones. The sheer amount of spells being sent forth from Yaxley's wand was illuminating the dark gladiatorial pit enough to see the piles of bones around them in much more detail. And almost all of those spells would instantly kill Harry if they even grazed by him.

In answer, Equinox said,_ "__That man, Yaxley, was a part of the Dark Lord's inner circle, which means that he's more powerful than the average duelist, while everyone you've faced was either being possessed, was a fragment of a soul, or was generally mediocre. At this rate you won't last more than forty seconds against his constant spell chaining. You don't even know how to cast a simple shield yet, let alone one that could survive the impact of a single dark curse. Take into account the ridiculous number and power of these curses, and, well... you're totally fucked in this situation."_ Harry growled at that assessment and grabbed a nearby rock. It looked fairly sharp.

_"How do you know so much about him? And why can't you help me?"_ Harry asked as he rolled away from the temporary sanctuary that his cover gave him, and just in time because it exploded from one of the many blasting curses bouncing around the place. _"And why are spells just bouncing off the walls and floor like this?" _asked Harry in an afterthought.

_"I would guess that everything is lined with a a unique alloy of stygian iron and other similar metals. Rather than simply negating magic, it is somehow repelling curses completely, with enough efficiency to only absorb a tenth of the magical energy. Everything Yaxley sends at us will bounce off those walls up to ten times before completely dissipating, and he's sending a new curse every three seconds, while you've done nothing but dodge for the past minute and a half" _said Equinox as Harry cartwheeled and ducked.

Things were getting even more hectic the longer it went on, because more and more jets of light were bouncing around, though the older curses had lost most of their impact and momentum by now. _"And I can't help you because this is your test to become a vampire lord. They are watching to see how you handle fighting an opponent who outclasses you in dueling, as well as whether or not you have a trump card to fall back on, and how effectively you'd use it. I consider myself to be a trump card in a fight like this, and you can't rely on me to dispatch all of your opponents. I'll phoenix-flash us out if there's a mortal blow coming, but I'm otherwise taking a support role in this fight. Besides, one solid hit and I'd be taken out of the fight," _said Equinox.

_"But still, how did you know all that?" _asked Harry.

_"We don't have enough time at the moment, since its a VERY long story. I also seriously doubt you'd believe me even if I did tell you how I knew that, or why I was even tagging along with you in the first place. We'll talk about it later, once you've got one less homicidal maniac out to kill you," _said Equinox, referring to the situation he was currently in, both in regards to Yaxley and his master.

Harry nodded, remembering how another phoenix he met, Fawkes, tended to burn up into a pile of ash and become a baby upon serious bodily injury or outright death. He rolled out of the way of another deadly attack, but took a greatly diminished severing charm to his left arm. He grit his teeth as his blood began trickling down his arm, the intense pain making him falter enough to be struck by another in his right Achilles tendon, resulting in the devastating loss of his mobility, the only reason he was still even alive. _"I'm about to lose," _said Harry, realizing that he mostly relied on blind luck to win in the past. _"But I can't lose... not yet, not like this!" _

Thoughts of the Mirror of Erised randomly popped into his head at that moment, the image of his mother and father lovingly waving at him, along with his grandparents and cousins. He grit his teeth and said, _"I've been through way too much bullshit to just sit here and die in a pit against scum like him!" _A reduced blasting hex caught him in the hip, but he was too far into shock to even notice, and the adrenaline pumping through his veins would've dominated it anyway. He felt his impressive reserves of magic reacting to his emotions, stretching in a way he'd never felt before.

The only time he'd ever truly felt a drain on his magic from a spell was during that night at the end of third year, when he fought off over a hundred dementors with a single patronus, though the only reason that it was so powerful was because he already knew it would be. That time-turning adventure was a headache to remember, but that moment of blissful tugging on his energy was a spot of clarity. The euphoria of using magic that most people felt for everyday spells and took for granted, was so powerful that it boosted his patronus even more with positive emotions.

But this time, it wasn't draining. It was twisting in his body, transferring almost exclusively upwards. He felt the energy traveling along his magical network, the power being sucked and concentrated around his head. He felt his entire magical reserve being forced into the magical circuits of his eyes, the discharge rearranging the optical nerves of his most important sensory organ. This was not bliss; this was agony. But the change was abrupt, almost instantaneous. It was as if his eyes had expected the change, and were already adapting before it even happened.

Within a single heartbeat, Harry's anatomy was completely overhauled. Within the single blink of an eye, Harry's perception of the world around him was intrinsically different.

All of the spells in the room slowed down substantially, while they appeared to be glowing much more than before. Harry instinctively knew whether curses were severing hexes or blasting curses, or even the odd combustion charms, though he would never be able to describe how he knew. And he saw all of them at once, as if everything in his line of sight was his focus.

Harry didn't know what was causing his sudden clarity of perception, or the spontaneous time dilation, but he guessed that it was all of his magic flowing into his eyes. He also suspected that this same phenomenon was also the reason that he felt his neural pathways, which he only really discovered earlier that day due to Chiron's lesson, burning in a very distinctive way. There was no way that Harry would ever be able to forget any detail he saw at this moment, no matter how minute it was, or how much time passed since this moment. This would forever be imprinted into his mind's eye, capable of being replayed blow for blow at a moment's notice.

Yaxley's twitching muscles, fanatically widened eyes, and foaming mouth were moving slowly. He saw the man, who felt the upsurge in magical output coming from Harry, react to the change by making a strange motion with both hands towards him, and Harry saw tiny, almost invisible strings stretch out from his body and connect o all of his violently ricocheting spells. The strings became taught and swung towards Harry, carrying the many, many spells in the same flight path. At the sight of hundreds of spells simultaneously convening on his position, he nearly shit his pants out of fear, even if they were moving in slow motion.

All of this happened so fast, over such a minute segment of time, that Harry didn't know what to do. Surprised by the unexpected time dilation, Harry blinked again, and everything went back to normal speed. Equinox, realizing that a killing blow was actually coming, phoenix-slashed them both to the other side of the room. The disorientation caused by his perception of time changing, as well as his position in space shifting suddenly, made Harry feel like throwing up. The kicker was that his eyes were burning intensely, and he saw tears of blood flowing down his face.

_"What was that?" _asked Harry. He clenched the sharp rock in his hand tighter, as his vision started to blur and he saw black spots dancing on his peripherals. _"Why do I feel so absolutely horrible?" _At that moment, Yaxley's spells all collided, resulting in a massive display of vibrant colors and expressive patterns. The explosive rainbow created a shockwave that knocked both combatants to the floor, and the resulting vibrations just bouncing off the walls due to their material.

_"Are you referring to his last form of attack, or what you inadvertently did to your eyes for a temporary while?" _asked Equinox, a hint of amusement tinging his voice now that they were out of direct combat for the moment.

_"Both," _muttered Harry, his insides churning. He was still laying on the ground. He couldn't feel his left leg.

_"What he did is known as spell bending, which is basically just manipulating how spells move after being cast. It can be incredibly useful in conjunction with spell warping, which can change the form and properties of a spell; why simply shoot a jet of light if you can fire off lasers or form blades out of them? As for what you did, it seems that you successfully awoke one of your recessive bloodline abilities, the Peverell Family's Eyes of Misery. However your new ability is incomplete and apparently unstable. It also looks like you don't yet have the mental faculties to successfully use them. A brief glance with those activated was packed with enough visual information to practically send you into sensory overload; I'd recommend refraining from using it if you can avoid it," _said Equinox as Harry shakily stood up.

He was clenching the sharp rock that he picked up earlier as tightly as he could, and the shock from earlier was starting to wear off. He felt horrible pain across most of his body, but his back had the worst of it, catching the brunt of a blasting hex earlier. Maybe that was why his leg felt numb. He sincerely hoped that he wasn't paralyzed in a single leg for the rest of his life; that would suck so much.

_"How would I not use a bloodline ability that resides in my eyeballs?" _asked a mildly delusional Harry. He started chuckling, and some blood was starting to dribble out of his mouth. At this point, Yaxley stood up as well, his body covered in burn marks since he was way too close to the blast. _"Actually, I need you to take care of him for me. I'm in no state to continue fighting him, so I need to use my trump card..."_

Equinox sighed in annoyance and said, _"Fine, but I think I deserve a reward for this once we're out of here. Maybe you could help me find a nice female phoenix to hook up with? Surely you could set something like that up... oh well, maybe we can discuss this later. For now, we're going to have to transfer consciousnesses so I can do something productive without revealing my existence to those watching from above." _

Harry gave the mental equivalent of nodding his head since he was in no condition to do so, and felt the switch. It was the strangest sensation he'd ever felt, even worse than traveling by portkey or floo. He felt like he was being sucked out of his body and placed into another, but his newer, smaller, and warmer body technically resided in his old human body, so... yeah, it was pretty strange to say the least. _"Alright, so what are you going to do now?" _asked Harry.

In response, Equinox raised their hand and pointed the palm towards the still approaching Yaxley, and willed their magic to condense into the palm of their hand. It was a visible ball of light, which began to flicker and change into an orb of black fire. The sphere was launched at an astonishing speed, striking Yaxley with the force of a hammer before exploding and delivering a devastating payload that turned the older wizard into a bloody smear. _"Oh," _was all Harry could say before they switched back.

_"I thought you said we couldn't transfer consciousnesses until I was more adept at the mental arts," _said Harry.

_"I said that _you _couldn't do so, meaning that out of the two of us, only I would be able to enact that, though I must have your permission before gaining control of your body, and we can only do it for a short while. I don't particularly like human bodies; they're horrible conduits for the raw fire magic that phoenixes are accustomed too, getting damaged in the process. Sorry about that, by the way," _said Equinox.

Harry looked down at his palm, which was burnt and had smoke rising off of his darkened skin. He rolled his eyes and flippantly replied, _"So I guess I'm not going to be throwing fireballs around anytime soon."_

_"Actually once you activate the First Blaze, you'll be almost completely impervious to flames and heat, in fact they'll make you stronger. The element of fire will be at your beck and call, any phantasmal creatures aligned with flames or light will be subservient to you, and you'll likely have the ability to phoenix-flash even without my presence," _said Equinox.

_"Alright, that sounded pretty badass. No wonder Gryffindor is so famous; the dude was literally the hottest guy ever to live. We're totally unlocking the First Blaze soon, but first I need to get my Eyes of Misery fixed. I'd rather they not randomly flare up like that in an active combat situation, since that was the most disorienting thing ever. Is there a way to practice with bloodline abilities?" _asked Harry.

_"Yes. In fact, your Eyes of Misery have higher forms that can be unlocked with enough practice or forced evolution. But before you go doing that, we need to get you into contact with the Peverell Family Crest so it isn't unstable any longer. By the way, you've now got the Slytherin and Peverell abilities activated. Those are both considered Revere due to the status of the families that they came from," _said Equinox.

_"You know, I still don't understand the distinction between the different classes of nobility. I know that the Druidic Houses were Revered, but what makes them so special as opposed to the Romans, Saxons, and Normans? Is it simply because they were first? I know it wasn't just because they had bloodline abilities, because the others did as well. So why the elitism?" _asked Harry.

_"Didn't I already explain this?" _asked Equinox. Harry shook his head. _"I guess I might've missed this important detail... Alright, the Most Ancient and Revered Houses have upwards of twenty generations' worth of knowledge stored in their Family Crests, as well as a bloodline ability that gave them a unique advantage that nobody else could ever possibly replicate through sheer hard work. Things like Slytherin's Parseltongue, Gryffindore's First Blaze, and Peverell's Eyes of Misery and Agony are prime examples of this."_

_"I guess that means that t__he other houses would have less overall information stored in their Crests, and bloodline abilities that aren't necessarily unique to the family or able to be replicated?" _guessed Harry.

_"Precisely,__ things like being __born with natural Occlumency or a metamorphmagus,"_ clarified the ebony firebird. A nearby gate opened and several people entered the room with broomsticks, dustpans, and wheelbarrows, starting what looked like an arduous cleanup process.

"We're going to be greatly rewarded by Mistress Serana once we're finished," said a random worker. They all rejoiced as another worker placed a nearby corpse onto a wheelbarrow and moved it out. Considering the ratio of bodies to wheelbarrows, they'd all be working hard for at least a couple of hours to clean the room.

"I do wonder why our Masters and Mistresses are making such elaborate decorations in the throne room," wondered another aloud, as she prematurely dropped the upper half of the body of a unicorn. Completely missing the wheelbarrow that was her target, the unicorn's horn clanged loudly against the ground and the body rolled away, leaving a morbid trail of unicorn-insides. "Oops, silly me," she muttered, "I can't believe I missed!" She was blonde, and came off as incredibly ditzy. Her tone didn't match the atmosphere at all, though it did give credence to the stereotype about blondes.

It made others laugh merrily as they continued their gruesome work.

Harry lazily looked over the surrounding area and knew that they'd be doing that for quite a long time, since it seemed that Yaxley killed hundreds of creatures ever since he came there. It seemed as if nobody came to clean up for the whole time he was there. The workers were slowly making their way over to him, all the while cleaning as they went. They seemed awfully cheerful for glorified servants, but Harry was too sore to make any outwards comments to them about it.

_"This place is fucking crazy," _said Harry.

_"You just hit the nail on the head, kid," _said Equinox. _"And you haven't even seen half of this castle."_


	11. Act One: Vampiric Ascension

**Chapter Notes: Slight bit longer than normal, but there wasn't really any good cut-off points. Also, I'm getting bored of fanfiction so I might not post the next chapter for a while.**

* * *

The entire throne room was watching events in the dungeon unfold through a crystal ball. Everyone's eyes were glued as the child fought with a full blown Death Eater. Many people placed bets on how long he could live, or whether he would even survive the ordeal at all. Durza was watching intently, his razor sharp gaze taking in all of the boy's movements as the battle unfolded. The child had absolutely no form whatsoever, draining any substance from his spells but compensating with that from the sheer amount of energy he forced into the spells.

"This child has incredible raw talent," commented Harkon to Durza. "The amount of energy in his reserves is simply mind boggling, and the potency of his magic is practically unheard of in an adolescent human. If he were to master some basic magic control exercises and learn the proper form for spell casting, he would be an unstoppable force and immovable object all rolled into one."

"Oh, I know he has amazing potential. I offered to craft him a wand, so I could test what materials he had an affinity for. His wand will have a combination of fresh basilisk heartstrings still fresh with venom and dark magic, midnight phoenix feathers marinated in phoenix tears, and thestral hairs soaked in unicorn blood. His wood will be both cherry and elder, the handle will be a dementor bone, and the tip will be a blood ruby," said Durza. "Put all that together, and what does it tell you?"

"It tells me that this boy has an affinity for destruction magic, specifically with the element of fire. He could become a legendary pyromancer on a never before reached level. It also tells me that he has potential to wield dark magic effortlessly and not be overly influenced by its call, and... if he becomes a vampire, it'll be much more than a simple ascension beyond humanity like the rest of us; we could potentially be the witnesses of an apotheosis," said Harkon.

"Surely you're joking, right?" asked Durza. "I seriously doubt an event of that magnitude could be triggered by simple vampirism, otherwise sorcerers the world over would flock to become our brethren. Is there something you can sense about him that I can't?" Just how powerful did Harkon believe that Harry could become?

"It won't be an immediate apotheosis, but it will give him potential to reach such a level. Did you sense the second presence within him, son?" asked Harkon.

"Yes, he's shown me his midnight phoenix familiar. I don't exactly understand how it resides in him, though I'm guessing that he houses it in his magical core. I'm curious as to how he's accomplished such a feat without significant training, but I just figured that his currently submissive bloodline ability the First Blaze allowed him to do so. Are you saying that there is more to his familiar than it being a legendary phantasmal creature?" asked Durza.

"Of course. Phoenixes are light aligned creatures, yet I sense malevolence leaking out of its presence that is even stronger than my own. That means that somebody either tainted a pure creature with the dark side, or that isn't really a true phoenix. It could be any number of things, but there is one thing that I know for certain: that _thing _is no phoenix, of that I'm sure," said Harkon.

"I wonder..." muttered Durza, but his external contemplation was interrupted by the arrival of the thrall servants that were sent to clean up the pit, accompanied by the young Harry Potter. The boy looked truly exhausted and was covered in cuts and bruises. His right arm was in a sling, his left arm was in a sling, his left leg was being dragged across the floor helplessly, and his right leg was shaking uncontrollably to carry all his weight. One of the kid's eyes was swollen shut, and his lips looked incredibly chapped.

"Well, look who's back!" called out Durza, answered by raucous laughter by all those around him. "So you passed the test, did you? And it seems that you had quite a bit of fun during the attempt, didn't you?" Harry winced at the word 'fun' but otherwise showed no signs of even paying attention to the man. "You've definitely earned your place among us, no one could ever deny that. However, I'm curious, what will you do with the power once you gain it?"

Harry stared blankly back at him and cryptically said, "That's for me to know, and you to find out."

"Fair enough," said Durza. "Let's get started, shall we?"

Nodding, Harkon stepped forward and said, "I'm going to inject you with a small amount of my blood through my fangs. The blood has special properties that work in concert with the vampirism contagion. After the transformation, you'll become demi-phantasmal. A species evolved beyond homo sapiens, vampires are in the border realm between humans and phantasmal creatures. In this respect they're similar to frost and fire giants, werewolves and werebears, succubus and incubus, and even veela."

"... Well that's fantastic," said Harry. "Afterwards, can you guys heal me up?" His wounds were making him somewhat irritable.

Laughing, Harkon intoned, "You certainly are a vivacious young man. The transformation will give you regenerative abilities, so all damage will be healed on its own. Also, the pain you experience during the transformation will be excruciating beyond compare, something I doubt you'll want to go through again. So, I've decided to bestow the Volikar Coven Crest on you at the same time as your metamorphosis. This will likely increase the pain even more, but it should make you quite a bit stronger. Do you have the strength of will to withstand such agony for upwards of three days without respite?"

"I'd certainly like to think I have an indomitable spirit capable of surviving something like that, otherwise this trip would be redundant and my earlier danger inconsequential; thus Yaxley's death would be in vain, even if he _did_ deserve it..." said Harry. His words earned an appreciative smile from Durza and an amused smirk from a nearby vampire mistress, the same one that whispered to Harkon upon Harry's entrance to the castle.

"Alright, since you're sure... You have to be conscious for this, and there's no pain reliever in the world that could dull this. I hope you survive, for what it's worth," said Durza.

Harkon nodded in agreement and said, "Tilt your neck to the side. On the count of three: one," but then he bit down and injected as quickly as he possibly could. For a brief second, Harry's eyes flared with his recently unlocked bloodline ability. He saw a glowing tattoo on Harkon's chest, so powerful that it was visible even through the man's heavy clothes. It began to animate of its own accord, spreading across the man's body, allowing Harry to observe that it consisted of numerous small characters.

The characters, automatically recognized as ancient runes by Harry due to him picking up a few books on the subject earlier that day in his family vault despite the fact that he hadn't yet had enough time to go over them due to his hectic schedule so far, were rapidly being deciphered by his eyes. He inherently understood that he was staring at a sealing array that was unraveling to reveal a stored Crest. What that even meant or how difficult of an accomplishment that was escaped him entirely, because his eyes were staring with supreme focus on the phantasmagorical heraldic emblem of the Volikar coven, its pattern and shape permanently burned into Harry's mind.

_"Maybe you should've given this decision a bit more thought," _reasoned Equinox. _"I mean, you've only really known Durza for a couple of hours..."_

_"Fucking bird..." _

And then Harry succumbed to agony filled unconsciousness. "I don't envy the nightmares that he'll be dealing with soon," said Durza with something comparable to guilt lacing his voice.

"Father, have you ever transplanted the bloodline while simultaneously activating said bloodline at some point in the past?" asked the vampire mistress.

"Nope. Hopefully he lives through the trauma, though it will probably deeply scar his psyche. Or maybe it'll be no different than the normal transformation. Honestly, my dear Serana, I don't care all that much. However, my newest guinea pig is certainly interesting. I wonder how some of his native bloodline abilities will interact with my foreign cells or the contagion itself?" stated Harkon in a dreary and bored monotone.

"If he dies, the political fallout will be very undesirable. This will likely be considered unscrupulous behavior at best, if the wizards find out, and inhumane at worst. I do believe you owe the boy an apology when he wakes up," said Durza.

Serana raised an eyebrow, "Don't you mean _if _he wakes up?" Both of the male vampires stiffened at her insinuation, and she gave a predatory smirk at their unwitting affirmation of her acknowledgement of such a possibility. It made her feel alive inside

"Oh he'll definitely wake up from this," said Harkon. "The only viable question applicable to our current situation given the present circumstances is: how long will it take?"

"And how will he react once regaining consciousness?" added on Durza.

"... Alright, two questions that are applicable to the current situation given the present circumstances," amended Harkon. Both of his surviving children chuckled. "But you do have to admit," he stated with a small smirk on his angular face, "-that things will certainly be getting interesting around here in the near future."

"Indubitably," remarked Durza.  
_

Harry awoke in the peaceful meadow of his mindscape, the pain having sent him into unconsciousness. He was lucky that he already set this place up, otherwise he'd be forced to endure the pain. Lazily since time slows down substantially inside the mind, Harry began talking with Equinox, _"Well I lasted a couple of hourse before ending up here; I think that's pretty good. So you mentioned that you didn't have enough time to explain why you were with me and how you knew so much about me. I noticed that you knew what Dumbledore did before we even went to Gringotts too..."_

_"Alright, it's not like we don't have enough time. But before I explain my origins and purpose, I need to tell you one of my primary objectives in searching for you. For the majority of your life, you were held back from your total potential. Somebody placed magical restrictions on your physical, mental, and magical growth. Ho__wever, you are lucky that they were placed on you though." _A phantom zephyr came through the meadow, bringing with it imaginary leaves and rustling the beautiful flora that populated his mindscape.

_"Oh, and why is that?" _asked Harry. He couldn't really imagine any way that this could have a positive spin on it. Turning about, he admired his creation, an inner sanctuary of his mind that held a giant mansion in it. The mansion was the place that held all of his ideas, goals, memories, emotions, and other such things. It was the master control node of his mind, and by extension his brain. It controlled sensation, perception, and many other aspects of his existence rather easily.

_"Because there was a hostile piece of a foreign soul embedded in you. It was Voldemort's from the night he tried to kill you, but that was also suppressed and forced into dormancy by the restrictions along with your own potential. These oppressive measures were Dumbledore's handiwork from the same night that you defeated Voldemort. The fact that they protected you from an active possession is simply a lucky happenstance, completely unintentional on Dumbledore's part. When I arrived, I broke those barriers and destroyed the soul fragment. The soul fragment was leeching off of you, siphoning off small portions of your magical energy to stay alive. You automatically began compensating for it and your barriers, which is why you had problems with control but had stronger than normal magical reserves. Now that they're all gone and your magical core is under control, you should be able to rectify the issue."_

_"And you didn't tell me this because?" _prompted a mildly annoyed Harry. He entered the mansion and began wandering around aimlessly. He ended up in the master bedroom, where he plopped down on a bed and idly wondered what would happen to him if he slept while in his mindscape.

_"It really didn't seem like a big deal at the time. Tell me, would this have really changed how you acted? You still would've gone to Gringotts, Bellmont's Wandshop, the Chamber of Secrets, and the __Forbidden __Forest__ that day. I just thought that it would be more expedient to get you on your way immediately, rather than trying to explain every little thing to you. Though I must admit, you're taking this all rather well," _explained Equinox.

_"Well, even with those restrictions, I was still slightly better than average. I mean, I made the Quidditch team, am a fairly good duelist, and get decent grades. But now I think I'll be demolishing my competition."_

_"Agreed," _said the bird.

_"Now about your origins..." _prompted Harry.

_"This may be hard for you to believe, but I'm you... or at least, a part of a potential version of you," _said the midnight phoenix.

_"What's going on?"_asked Harry, suddenly wondering if everything that had happened thus far that night was simply a hallucination from the vampire venom that was still burning in his veins. Unfortunately, this seemed way too real to be anything but. Besides, he could bend hallucinations to his will now that he was so good at Occlumency.

_"Before I continue, please don't ask any questions until I'm done. Also, please don't judge me for not immediately telling you anything. I just couldn't risk anybody figuring it out with Legilimency. Okay, so first off, I'm from the future." _Harry had to bite his tongue from replying to that. _"I am a mental partition of sorts that was sent back in time in your animagus form so that I could prepare you for what's to come. I'm from a possible future where We gained the allegiance of the Deathly Hallows but was tortured into infertility by Voldemort. We'd accepted death and thus gained the stone, I won the Elder Wand in a duel and gained it, and inherited the cloak..."_

_"That really doesn't sound so bad, other than not being able to have kids..."_ said Harry. However, having a large family was one of the many things that he'd wanted in life. He honestly couldn't blame his older self for... sending an artificial version of himself back in time.

_"Its bad because We got to watch as everything We ever loved wasted away around Us. We watched as the love of our life, Ginny, grew old and decrepit and died. We watched as our best friends, Ron and Hermione, were utterly alone. The world around Us was changing faster than We could adapt, and immortality began changing our thought processes. After a few centuries our mind was so convoluted and abstract that We couldn't communicate with other people any longer, but We understood everything in the entire universe in its absolute entirety."_

_"Ginny? Ron's little sister? No offense, but I seriously doubt I'm going to end up with her. In fact, I'm going to go out of my way to stay away from her just so that's one way we deviate from your miserable existence... No offense."_

_"That's the only thing you got out of that entire spiel? Meh, we're the same person. You really just insulted yourself. Semantics at its most convoluted... Besides, the only reason We fell in love with Ginny anyways is because of Mrs. Weasley's cooking; she has trace amounts of love potion constantly being fed to you that would lower your inhibitions towards her daughter after a few years."_

It was very hard for Harry to even comprehend the gravity of the situation. In his excitement, he said, _"And that's how you knew about the restrictions and horcrux, and you directed me to both Chiron and Durza, knowing that they'd be able to help me with all of this. And the reason you're capable of merging with my core is because you've got the same magical signature as me! And that's how you know so much about me..."_

_"Yes. But now you need to work very hard on gaining the ability to split your mind into multiple autonomous parts. This will allow me to merge with you, and by extension, all of my memories and knowledge. However, I'm the seventh partition, as well as something a bit more substantial. I'm an experimental creation, the culmination of multiple lifetimes of research and experiments by an older version of yourself. But right now we really need to get some sleep," _said Equinox.

And then Harry drifted off to sleep on the pleasantly soft mental construct that resembled a bed.  
_

Harry woke up feeling distinctly sick. He rolled over and puked his guts out all over the nearest surface, which appeared to be the bed he was laying in. But it didn't smell like either Number Four Privet Drive, or the Burrow. _"Where am-" _but then it him. He remembered the trip to the castle, the ensuing 'test', the resulting 'gift', and then entering his mindscape to converse with Equinox.

But there brief flashes of memories not pertaining to his current surroundings, most of which didn't even make sense. There were strange images and sound jumbling through his head: an old muggle man with a crippled leg, a mysterious and dilapidated manor, high pitched laughter from a familiar cold voice, a giant Brazilian Boa constrictor, a flash of green similar to his oldest dreams. That's all he could recover at the moment.

It was quite disconcerting.

His head was pounding and his body felt incredibly stiff. He slowly sat up, noticing that he could distinctly hear the sound of fabric crinkling and rubbing against his skin, the creaking of the bed as he re-positioned himself, the slight hum of air movement, a pattering of paws in the neighbor's house suggesting a dog or similar creature. He heard what sounded like a sledge hammer being bashed into a gong at high speeds reverberating through his skull. Was that his own heartbeat? _"Holy shit."_

_"I completely agree with that sentiment," _replied Equinox. _"You're going to be royally fucked with sensory overload now that you're awake. It'll take you a few days to get used to all of this..." _He could feel the silky fabric running against his skin, he could taste the air landing on his tongue, smell things that would be impossible for a human to smell, and hear the slightest of noises at unrealistic volumes. _"Use Occlumency to suppresses your senses for now and slowly relax them over time. That way, you can slowly get used to all of this." _Deciding to take the bird's advice, Harry did just that.

_"Again with the sensory overload..."_

At that moment, Durza Volikar entered the room and said, "Hey there, I see you're awake. It usually takes three days for the base transformation, but the stronger the wizard, the faster the change. Its only been about two days, which shows that you're quite a bit stronger than normal. Don't worry, you're currently safe in Castle de Volikar. You've also received letters from Remus Lupin and Molly Weasley, so you can read those when you feel up to it."

Harry nodded and said, "So, how are we with the Basilisk parts now?"

The vampire lord smiled in his feral way and said, "We are still trying to catalog all of the parts before we can even begin advertising the auction. But speaking of Basilisks, I think you should take one of the males as your familiar now. I mean, they've been over here for a while. One of them would be an excellent partner, especially alongside a phoenix. Imagine it; two mortal enemies working together and forming a near unstoppable force. Plus, having the most lethal poison in the world and its only antidote on standby would be pretty great too. Imagine the interrogations you could do with that: simply let the Basilisk bite someone and only give them the antidote when they've talked..."

"So, what do I do now?" asked Harry. "I mean, now that I'm a vampire lord, I don't really know what the next step is. You said something about sealing the abilities off and slowly giving them back over time so I can get used to it?"

"Yes, that's actually why I came to get you. We're going to seal most of the powers away, then we're going to put you through a training regiment for the next few days to get you better adapted to your new abilities," said Durza. "Follow me back to the main room." Nodding, Harry followed the elder vampire lord and they left his small room. Walking through the dark corridors was a lot less frightening than it would've been if he were still human, but his eyes could easily penetrate the shadows.

"I wonder how my being a vampire will affect my relationship with the Weasley family, especially when I go to live with them. They're notoriously against anything and everything that even remotely resembles something Dumbledore would consider 'dark'," said Harry. "I mean, I actually think of them as my own family because of how much better they treated me than my foster family..."

"I think you already know how they'd react once they find out what you truly are now... But why exactly are you even going back to their home? You could just stay here where you would have an unlimited supply of blood without consequences, and you could easily phoenix-flash anywhere to escape dangerous situations from what I've seen. You might be able to gain an emancipation if you really tried for it, especially now that your appearance has chained," said Durza.

At those words, Harry looked at his reflection in a nearby window. What he saw made him grin. He was now nearly two inches taller than he was a day earlier. His body had crisply cut, lean muscles that gave him an even more lithe appearance than he had prior to the transformation. He flexed and heard a scraping noise coming from his body, though no human would be able to hear it. "Your body will have an accelerated aging rate until you hit your peak," said Durza, "You'll continually add muscle tone and height over the next few years. Your skin is now as tough as granite, yet still feels like silk. Lets just say that it won't be tearing easily any time soon."

Harry stretched and said, "About my gaining emancipation, I've worked out a plan with Equinox. I won't tell you what it is simply because its a masterpiece and I want it to be a surprise, but I will tell you this: at the end, my godfather will be exonerated, I will have several new allies in the Wizengamot, and I'll have increased influence over the black market. But I'm staying with the Weasleys at the moment because it will put Dumbledore into a false sense of security; he won't be paying as much attention to me if I was there than if I were at Number Four Privet Drive."

"That sounds well thought out. I'll leave you to it then," said Durza. "However, I do think a warning is necessary. You are no longer human, your behavior will no longer be human, and you may do something you regret if you don't keep yourself under strict control. Discipline is the key." As he said this, they entered the throne room, where streamers and banners were hung up everywhere. Trumpets started playing to signify their arrival, and the entire court applauded Harry's ascendancy.

Lord Harkon laughed merrily and added on to Durza's words, "Of course, not being a human any longer isn't a bad thing. You're a vampire now kid, so act like it. Humans are only good for labor, blood, and sex." Those words made Harry grimace, and Harkon continued, "I'd suggest making nice with me, newbie. I'm the one that seals your powers away if you really want..." It sounded tempting, since Harry's brain would be hemmoraging soon if he didn't dilute the intensity of his sensations. "The process is something called the rosary seal. Basically, your powers and _desires_ are locked away unless you call them forth consciously..."

"I think my Occlumency should do just fine with that. I just came here to get... away..." At that precise moment, he saw the tables, laden with human thralls and blood pooling around their giggling bodies. He felt his body moving automatically towards the gore, his eyes half lidded as he tilted his head towards the life liquid. Without realizing what he was doing, he began to drink thirstily. He actually moaned as the thirst he was unaware of was suddenly quenched.

"Yes, I can see just how much self control you've got," said a smirking Harkon. That snapped Harry out of his binge drinking. Harry growled and ripped his head away from the young woman on the table, whose moans were sending pleasant chills down his spine.

"Look, you're going to need help controlling yourself now. We vampire lords are of the highest class of phantasmal creatures, being basically the swiss army knives of the supernatural creatures. We are the most powerful of this era's creatures almost entirely because of the sheer number of abilities that we wield, though you'll need to make nice with a few of the other noble families before you can unlock further powers," said Harkon.

Durza decided to add in, "You were granted an immense boost to your physical attributes because of Lord Harkon, but if you befriend the Shinso, Dracula, and Volturi covens... you could become truly great. Lord Harkon has unlocked all vampire powers in the world just like Lord Shinso and Count Dracula. Those three are the most powerful of our kind, and you have the potential to join them."

A mysterious vampire mistress, who the readers already know is Serana, said, "You need to learn how to use those powers, and how to control not only your body's urges and senses, but also your strength and speed. You can't go blowing down doors every chance you get. I'm Serana by the way."

Harry, feeling more foolish than he could ever remember feeling, bowed his head in defeat and nodded before saying, "That sounds like something that I sorely need? I still need to go to the Burrow and Hogwarts, so that I can begin the preparations, and I need to be able to fit in with humans inconspicuously to garner support and positive attention to my cause..."

"Why do you need to go to such an inept school to fulfill something so asinine? Why not go to Scholomance in Transylvania, where all decent vampires go to. You could perhaps get accepted into Yokai Academy in Japan if you felt like it," replied Harkon. "I mean, you might as well get an education that is actually worth a damn in the world around you rather than wasting time simply on social needs. You're a vampire now, you'll need something engaging for your attention, or else you might do something rash in your boredom..."

"My friends and future political allies are in Hogwarts, and I can't just let Voldemort get his physical body back, nor his body of supporters. That would be disastrous for the entire magical world, not just the witches and wizards in Britain" said Harry. "He's like the Ted Bundy of wizards; somebody that kills indiscriminately simply because he feels like it."

_"In that analogy, Grindelwald would be more akin to Adolf Hitler. He directly killed approximately the same amount of people that Hitler's forces killed including both the Second World War and Holocaust. He was just so powerful that he could annihilation entire armies in seconds. The only person alive at the time that could oppose him face to face was Dumbledore. Did you know that they used to be friends with each other until they had a disagreement that killed Dumbledore's younger sister Ariana?" _said Equinox.

_"I didn't know that. That does explain my first year and the Mirror of Erised. He commented that he saw himself with socks, but he seemed so wistful when looking at the mirror. I bet he sees his sister alive and happy, similar to how I saw my parents and grandparents. I wonder how it showed me what they looked like even though I'd never even seen a picture of them at any point prior to that moment..." _replied Harry. The entire conversation happened at the speed of thought, a vampire's thought to be precise. Needless to say it passed by rather quickly and nobody noticed other than Serana.

Harkon shrugged and replied to Harry's last outward statement, "How is that our problem? Yes we're a part of the magical community, but they tend to hate us simply for being what we are. Why not let them fix their own problems? I know for a fact that they would probably just egg us on if one of our own went rogue and began acting in a similar manner. It begs the question of why you care so much about them. I know you've only been a vampire for a few minutes, but your loyalty to humanity is something troubling."

"It's not that, it's because-" but Harry was cut off by a burst of black flames, signaling the appearance of his phoenix.

_"Because there is a prophesy concerning Harry and Volemort. Basically they need to fight until one is dead,"_said the fire-bird Harkon scowled at the bird in annoyance, more for the statement it conveyed than anything else. Though the fact that it did intrerupt one of his new ilk in the middle of a sentence vexed him as well.

Harry tried to hide his surprise at just now finding something that important out, and succeeded in fooling everyone but a beautiful raven haired vampiress, incidentally the one named Serana that just introduced herself to him, who stood off quietly to the side. She winked at him, and he felt the urge to procreate filling his body immediately. He growled and forcefully looked away, only receiving a giggle in reply from her. Somehow, nobody noticed this byplay. Maybe it was because Equinox was lazily flying around and attracting everyone's attention.

Harkon sighed and said, "Fine, fine. Do as you wish. However, you will have two different instructors. My daughter Serana," at this point he pointed at the beautiful raven haired vampiress that laughed at him earlier, "-will teach you how to control your new physical abilities and help you with your new special powers. And my son Durza will teach you dueling and magical theory. However, I'll just go ahead and give you the Rosary Seal. Its basically just a rune that is placed on your chest," at which point he held up his right hand, which was glowing with a malevolent purple aura.

Serana smiled beautifully and said, "When the Rosary Seal is removed, your innocent self will vanish and your inner vampire will awaken. Basically while its on, you're going to revert to a near-human form, though you'll still retain greater physical abilities than the average human. Eventually it will allow more of your vampire self out in response to how well you adapt to your newer powers." She casually ripped his shirt off, and he watched somewhat miffed as the tattered rags, all that remained of his cousin's hand-me-down, fell to the floor.

He was more annoyed that she didn't just ask him politely to take it off, but let it slide since she was technically undressing him.

At that exact moment, Harkon touched Harry's bare torso. Searing pain swept through his body for only a moment before it was already gone, and Serana continued, "Follow me into my chambers and I'll begin teaching you how to be a proper vampire." He had a tattoo of a rosary where Harkon touched him, and it slowly faded away. As promised, the sounds, sights, scents, tastes, and touches were repressed down to only slightly better than when he was once a human.

With those words said, Serana walked off into a branching corridor. Harry quickly said, "Bye," to Harkon somewhat lamely before jogging after the vampiress. As she moved smoothly through the steadily darkening hallway, Harry decided to ask her, "So, you're Durza's sister?"

She nodded for an answer, a strange smirk on her face. With a lack of verbal release, Harry decided to try again, "I really appreciate you doing this for me. If there's ever anything you'd need-" But she stopped walking all of a sudden. Without any reason whatsoever, she slammed him into a nearby wall and pinned him there.

An evil smile appeared on her face as she said, "I want to make you an offer, aside from me simply teaching you how to harness your vampiric abilities." As she said this, she pressed her ample chest against him. It made him a strange combination of both confused and aroused. He tried to reply, but for some reason his brain was feeling fuzzy at the moment. She smirked, noticing that he wouldn't be able to answer her any time soon, and said, "In exchange for me teaching you... I'd like some form of _compensation..._" The way she purred the last part while breathing into his incredibly sensitive ears made his hairs stand up.

"What would-"

She nibbled on his earlobe, making him feel the craziest sensations, before whispering huskily into his ear, "I want... I need... I absolutely must have... your firstborn child."

Harry nodded stupidly and said, "Yeah, that sounds like a fair... wait a minute! What the hell? I'm not gonna-" But she shushed him gently with her index finger, her eyes twinkling with something no human would ever be able to comprehend. And then she licked his neck. "Again, what the hell!" Her smirk only grew more pronounced as her tongue went over his jawline. "I'm so confused right now..." And he was. He felt violated, and yet simultaneously he wanted her to continue. Confused indeed.

And then she was suddenly standing over ten feet away, leaning idly against the wall, "A phantasmal creature is any nonhuman magical entity. The higher the ranking, the more powerful they are. Vampires, werewolves, phoenixes, dragons, high elves, kitsune, dark elves, faeries, and warlocks are the only S-Rank phantasmal creatures in existence, the most powerful of the mortal beings," she said haughtily.

Harry had to blink at both the abrupt change in topic, and how seemingly instantaneously she ended up over there. Then he blinked again. "How... what?"

Her smirk started turning coy as she sashayed away, her hips swaying an unnecessary amount. "The rank is often given based off of what their body largely consists of; magic materia, organic material, or synthetic material. This also applies to guardian constructs that magic-users tend to create for protection and companionship."

"Then there is also their mental abilities. Primary cognition relies entirely on their programming, either deoxyribonucleic acid, eternano charges, or computer code. This is basically most simple, single-celled organisms such as bacteria are, in terms you could understand," continued Serana as she tilted her head cutely to the side, as if in thought about something.

"Secondary cognition relies mostly on commands from a higher being, and this also gives them the ability to learn. This is where most animals that populate the Earth are mentally. Tertiary cognition is basically sentience in its truest form; self awareness and the ability to decide based on perceived outcomes. That is where humans and most phantasmal creatures are. Beyond that is quaternary cognition, which is not something any of us could ever understand." She gave a predatory smile before licking her lips.

"I don't think that had anything to do with anything in regards to learning control," he said, his brain still trying to process the sheer randomness and attractiveness of this woman.

She laughed melodically and replied, "Au contraire monsier Potter, that statement had everything to do with everything. And by the way..." She turned her head around so that she could see him out of the corner of her crimson eyes, which were currently batting away like crazy, "-your fly is undone." He looked down and noticed with no small amount of shame that she was telling the truth. But he remembered specifically...

"Hey, did you unzip my pants earlier?" he asked in outrage.

She smiled mysteriously, stuck out her butt with outlandish conspicuousness, and said, "Of course. It would only be in my way for things to come. And also, that was lesson number one: a vampire's allure is a powerful thing, even against other vampires. It isn't anywhere near as effective as a veela, succubus, or incubus, but it gets the job done. I could've slit your throat just then, but instead I just took a quick peek at your manly parts and stole your wand. Oh and by the way, you seem to be lacking in that department." He just noticed that she was in fact twirling his wand of holly and phoenix feather in her hands like a baton, a devilish smirk on her face.

"When you say I'm lacking-"

"I mean exactly what you'd think I mean," she said cryptically before cackling maniacally and sprinting away. Her laughter echoed through the increasingly shadowy corridors, sending tingles of fear, anticipation, and desire all climbing up his spine. His skin tingled, and he growled while he tried to throw her allure off.

Equinox laughed and said, "_I really like her._"

"Oh, bite me," mumbled Harry out loud, his words accented by his slightly sharper teeth. The irony of his words was completely intentional.

"I'll save that thought for later," came Serana's reply. "Catch me if you can! This is only the beginning of your training, or as the other newborns call it, 'Hell Week with Serana'. I'm a rather hands-on kind of girl..." And with that she disappeared perfectly into the shadows, her voice echoing eerily through the darkness. "You will learn by doing..."

Shivering, he looked around. "Okay, so a kleptomanic sociopath of a carnivore has stolen my only effective weapon against her and has now declared open game on me... and apparently my firstborn child... how exactly did I get into this mess?"

Her voice came back in a playful tone, almost from right behind him, "Rather than having your internal monologue out loud, you should be searching for the super sexy vampiress who could easily kill you with nary a thought. At this rate, you might not live long enough to worry about our firstborn..." At the far end of the hallway, a wrought iron gate slowly opened and several dark creatures that Harry couldn't even guess the name of began pouring through.

"... Our firstborn?" was all Harry could ask before the _things _were upon him.

Her voice was suddenly businesslike as she said, "Vampires are considered the strongest because of our ability to directly convert our magical auras into raw strength, speed, et cetera. We are the result of a demonic virus from somewhere out there in the void between worlds, or some such shit like that. We are natural enemies with werewolves."

"So," said Harry as he ducked under the incredibly slow swing of what appeared to be a medieval skeleton, "-how exactly does my being a vampire affect my magical network, circuits, and reserves?" More undead things and dark creatures began converging on his position, and he was forced to flee so that he could remain intact.

She outright laughed and said, "How the fuck should I know? I'm not a nurse." The skeleton's sword came down, and Harry gracefully sidestepped the attack and let it hit a nearby... ogre? Was he seriously fighting an ogre so effortlessly, or in the first place for that matter? The ogre fell to the ground clutching the stump of an arm remaining and shrieking at the top of its lungs. Annoyed, Harry kicked the green thing and it flew out a nearby window.


	12. Act One: Burrow, Part One

A few days later, Harry phoenix-flashed to the Burrow's front yard quietly. He quietly approached the front door and knocked. Immediately, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, and Molly came out to see him. They must not have been expecting him to get passed their wards unnoticed. "Hey mate!" called his own personal ginger. Ron whacked him on the back in a brotherly sort of way and said,"Its been way too long since the last time we've seen each other!"

"Yeah, absolutely worst week ever," said Harry jokingly. He refrained from telling Ron about his recent adventures involving Vampire Lords and Centaurs because he'd likely tell his mother, who would relay anything having to do with him to Dumbledore. And he'd rather the old man be wasting time and energy trying to figure out what Harry'd been doing for the past week, rather than being able to concoct another scheme to isolate him from his friends.

Besides, he'd rather not everybody know what he was capable of...

Before he could even greet the Twins, Mrs. Weasley nearly shouted, "Fred, George; take Harry's trunk up to Ron's room now! The poor dear doesn't need to carry around such weight on his skinny shoulders!" He couldn't protest and warn them about the possible hernias they'd be getting if they tried to move his trunk because Mrs. Weasley turned her attention to Harry himself, "Harry, I'm going to have to fill you up with at least four portions at every meal so you can keep up with Ron! Oh those terrible muggles..."

He looked down at his body with a suddenly critical eye. While he was skinny from being underfed, he wasn't exactly of weak stock. Every summer he did backbreaking labor in the sweltering sun, which gave his skin a pleasant tan shade and gave him considerable muscle mass. Then there was Quidditch practices and matches during the school year, which required his body to cope with up to five G's of force. He actually had the statuesque body of a swimmer or runner, built for speed.

In other words, her assessment of him kindled a small amount of annoyance deep in his stomach. He squashed it down just as the Twins reached his trunk and grunted in surprise at the amount of effort required to lift it. If they weren't the greatest beaters on all of the Hogwarts teams, they'd likely not have even been able to lift it off the ground since most wizards had terrible physiques. That being said, he had close to eighty books that each weighed two to three pounds.

"Goodness kid, what do you have in that trunk?" asked Twin B. Harry knew that, if either really wanted to, they could bench at least two hundred pounds because of the physical conditioning required of the beaters so he didn't take them seriously.

"Its almost too heavy even for us," said Twin 2. That being said, Mrs. Weasley would likely go crazy if he tried to do anything for himself, so he just silently watched as they began to lug a nearly two hundred pound trunk up_all_ the flights of stairs that led to Ron's room. It could be considered cruel and unusual punishment.

Twin B nodded sagely and said, "Which must be pretty heavy because we're super strong."

"_Oh, do they have a joke coming up_?" wondered Equinox

"Absolutely, I mean look at our godly bodies and visages!" said Twin 2.

"_I certainly feel a joke coming on_," said Harry.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was unimpressed with our angelic appearances!" exclaimed Twin B.

"_Maybe they just feel like rambling?_" asked the firebird.

"Well maybe he doesn't swing that way," said Twin 2.

"_I certainly don't,_" commented Harry.

"_Really? You could've fooled me!"_ replied Equinox.

"I'd swing that way if I saw somebody who looked like me," said Twin B.

"_And there's the punchline,_" said Harry.

"Really?" asked Twin 2, "Well you're in luck-"

"FRED, GEORGE! WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO CORRUPT HARRY?!" yelled Mrs. Weasley. Rather than responding, they scurried up the stairs as fast as they could with the trunk in between them. "I'm sorry about that Harry," she continued. Then she looked at Ron and said, "Dear, its been a week since you last degnomed the garden. Do it now so you can visit Harry later." Ron grumbled darkly and walked off, leaving Harry alone with just Molly and Ginny. "Oh, I've got to cook dinner," she said with a strangely expectant gleam in her eye. She walked away. And now Harry was stuck with the nervous wreck that is Ginny Weasley.

There was an awkward air, and Harry decided to start conversation. "So-" but she squeaked and ran away. "_Will she ever be able to have a conversation with me?_" wondered Harry.

He felt Equinox snort again and say, "_Let me tell you something incredibly wise and profound: Bitches be tripping._" Harry chuckled, but looked around warily. It wouldn't do to appear like a crazy person, now would it? Shrugging, he walked off and said, "Might as well help Ron..." From a nearby window, Mrs. Weasley was cursing her only daughter's lack of self esteem.

There was something oddly relaxing about grabbing gnomes by their heads, swinging them around like medieval flails, and watching them fly off into the distance. They'd started a game of 'who-can-throw-the-gnome-the-farthest.' Grinning, Harry said, "So when is Hermione coming over?"

Ron grunted and threw his and impressive distance before replying, "Likely just before the Quidditch World Cup. She's on vacation in France at the moment, though I don't see why she'd wanna go there..." While Harry already knew that she was in France, he hadn't yet gotten around to asking her when she'd return. "At least with her away we don't have to study in our spare time," continued Ron.

Harry flinched and said, "Actually, Ron..." The ginger stared at him with eyes slowly widening in horror.

"No, not you too!" exclaimed the redhead.

Harry shrugged and replied, "I kind of have to. Every year something goes horribly wrong for me. Can you really fault me for wanting to protect myself? First year there was Quirrel, second year there was Riddle, last year there were dementors... Need I go on?" Ron shook his head, beginning to wonder just what sort of havoc would find his best friend this year. Snapping out of his reverie, Harry said, "When we're done with this, we should play some Quidditch."

Considerably happier having heard that, Ron smiled and said, "Well then let's start chucking!" And thus the air was filled with blurs of limbs and gnomes, and within minutes the yard was steadily filled with growing numbers of dizzy and giggling creatures. Harry and Ron watched happily as the tiny humanoids drunkenly swaggered off into the distance, hiccups occasionally floating back to their ears.

As soon as they reached the orchard that the Weasley family used as their makeshift Quidditch field, Fred and George quickly joined them. Harry and Ron formed a quick team, and the Twins were on the other. With Ron and Twin 2 as the keepers, and Harry and Twin B as the chasers, they continued playing until they reached ten goals, or a hundred points. Not even three minutes into the scrimmage, Chaser Twin said, "Blimey Harry, you could easily replace Angelina as the lead chaser!"

Smiling, Harry made another goal, thus marking his fifth already. "I could likely do everyone's jobs decently, but I'm a seeker through and through," he said grinning. The wind was whipping his hair back and forth as he stole the improvised quaffle, which was really just a hardened watermelon, and made another shot through Keeper Twin's guard.

Ron looked annoyed that Harry was good at yet another thing without trying, and blurted out, "I'm trying out for keeper this year!" All three members of the Gryffindor House Quidditch Team stopped their banter and looked at Ron, sizing him up.

"He probably would never live up to Wood's standards, but he might just make the team," said Twin 2. Ron looked both annoyed and happy with that assessment.

Harry, hoping to lessen the sting of that statement, said, "Well Wood's something of a fanatic when it comes to Quidditch." All three nodded sagely at his words before Harry and the Twins all started chuckling.

"Speaking of Wood, we're going to be meeting him next week at the Puddlemere United training facility," said Fred.

"Really? That actually sounds pretty fun," said Harry.

"The entire team from last year's gonna be there to support him," said George.

"We'd have invited you along, but we thought you'd be stuck with your muggles," explained Fred.

Harry nodded, "Makes sense."

Fred and George exchanged a quick glance before saying with ominous seriousness, "Harry... have you noticed that most members of the Quidditch team date each other?" Harry just looked at them blankly. He knew that Fred was dating Angelina and George was dating Alicia (or maybe Fred was dating Alicia and George was dating Angelina, he really couldn't tell), but he couldn't see why they were bringing that up now.

"Yes?" he asked in confusion.

"Well-" began Twin B.

"-don't you think that-" interupted Twin 2.

"-Katie is a pretty girl?" continued Ginger B.

Harry squirmed a little and said, "Yeah, she's pretty cute. Its just that my attention is mostly on... another seeker..."

The Twins' eyes widened comically as they said simultaneously, "You like Malfoy/Diggory?"

"So it seems that he _does_ swing that way after all," said Ginger 2.

"And he was obviously playing hard to get," continued Fred.

Ron gasped and said, "Its Cho Chang isn't it?" The other three stared at Ron like he was an idiot. Thankfully for Harry, Mrs. Weasley chose that moment to announce that lunch was ready for everyone. The put their brooms away, entered the house, and ate a few sandwiches. Somehow, Harry suspiciously ended up sitting next to a blushing Ginny, who was stuttering so much that he couldn't even understand her. Luckily, the Twins kept him occupied and excused him from having an incredibly awkward conversation with the starstruck girl.

Mrs. Weasley was watching him closely, almost as if expecting him to suddenly catch on fire. _"Equinox, do you know why she's staring at me the way she is?"_ asked Harry.

The phoenix replied with amusement heavily evident, _"Remember what I said about her slipping trace amounts of love potion into your food? Well that's why. Luckily, your body burns up anything excessive due to your First Blaze. Why do you think you're so skinny despite eating like a dragon?"_

_"That's a side effect of the First Blaze that you failed to_ _mention," _deadpanned Harry. He felt an internal scoff and just shook his head before returning to whatever the hell the Twins were talking about at the moment.

After they finished eating, Ron wanted Harry to join him in another round of Quidditch. "Sorry mate, but I've got to study and practice some more. Maybe later?" replied Harry. Ron looked severely annoyed and grumbled something before walking off by himself toward the orchard. Shrugging indifferently, Harry opened up his favorite book on Thaumaturgy and picked up where he left off.

But then the doorbell rang, and Harry answered it. He found two people standing in the doorway, an absolutely gorgeous woman and a tall black man. "Hello, may I help you?"

The woman smiled at him with a strange glint in her eyes that reminded him of Serana as she replied, "You're Harry Potter, right?" He nodded slowly, watching carefully as their eyes passed over his forehead, despite his scar being hidden behind his bangs. Ever since becoming a vampire, his straight hair seemed so much longer than before and easily hid his most identifying feature. Grinning, the woman pulled him into a hug that conspicuously rammed his face into the valley between her breasts as she said, "I'm Tonks and this is Shackelbolt. We're your Auror bodyguards. My cousin, Sirius Black, is on the loose and has shown an interest in you over the past year."

"You're Sirius's cousin?" he asked in a stunned voice as he looked her over. Sure, Sirius spent ten years in Azkaban, but he still didn't look anything like the absolute babe that stood before him. She had long brown hair going down to her waist with the occasional strips of artificial coloring here or there, her eyes were chocolate brown with mirth dancing across them, her high cheekbones and cute little nose indicated high-class breeding, her luscious red lips were parted and incredibly kissable, and her skin was a healthy tan color.

That wasn't even including her smoking hot body. But he was trying hard not to think to much about it, lest his inner vampire take over and he accidentally fuck her on the spot. That would definitely be a bad thing... or at least he'd get in trouble for it... thought it might still be worth it... He gulped and shook his head as he slowly retreated away from her, and she pouted at him. "Don't like what you see? Then how about this?" Her hair shorted seemingly of its own accord until it reached her shoulders, and it turned violent blue with streaks of purple through it.

"You're a metamorphmagus?" he asked cautiously. That just made her sex appeal jump by a factor of over nine thousand.

She gave him a saucy smile and said, "Of course. Maybe you'd like to see the extent of my _abilities_sometime?"

By this point, the incredibly bemused Shackelbolt cut in, "As great as it is to see a fully trained Auror hitting on a fourteen year old, we really have a job to do..." But Harry and Tonks walked into the house thoroughly ignoring him, her caught in his inadvertent Allure, and him caught in the novelty of her awesome beauty. "Horny kids these days..." he muttered to himself in irritation. He was an M-Class duelist and the Top Auror of the British Ministry of Magic, yet those two just blew him off, not even acknowledging his presence. "I just hope she doesn't do anything unprofessional with him... Oh, who am I kidding? Tonks is practically a teenager herself..."  
_

The next morning, Hermione was smiling happily as she appeared in the Burrow's fireplace in a flash of emerald flames. She was cutting her vacation short, but she really wanted to see Harry! ... And the Weasleys too, of course... Oh, who was she kidding? Harry was far more important in her mind than any of the redheads. She smiled politely, showing off her slightly larger than normal front teeth, and was suddenly engulfed in a massive hug via Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh, Hermione dear! We've been so excited for the past few days. Harry won't have to spend the whole summer with those horrible people!" said the rotund ginger lady as she slowly but surely sucked the life out of the brunette.

"Mrs. Weasley," mumbled an embarrassed Hermione, her voice too muffled to even be heard over the older woman's increasingly hysterical rant. Unfortunately, the woman didn't seem to notice the struggling teenager's discomfort, and just seemed to squeeze harder and harder as she sobbed more and more. With an almighty push, Hermione gulped in some much needed air and screamed, "MRS. WEASLEY!"

The plump woman looked affronted, but she finally stopped her tirade. "Mrs. Weasley, I'm sure Harry would've been just fine with his guardians, though I'm rather glad he doesn't have to stay with them. He has told me that he's already had an adventure already this summer, and knowing how he defines 'adventure'..." As she finished her explanation, the woman's eyes grew to the size of entire planets and, before Hermione even knew what happened, Mrs. Weasley was running up the stairs to interrogate her 'poor precious Harry'. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Hermione followed at a much more mellow pace, picking up Ginny along the way.  
_

Harry was having a morning training session with Serana, having left the Burrow in the middle of the night via phoenix-flash. It wasn't like he needed to sleep anymore or anything like that.

Serana looked down at him from her perch atop a gargoyle and smiled, showing off her dazzling fangs. "Alright Harry, I think you've had enough." Harry, whose new granite-like skin was covered in scratches, bruises, and sweat, turned to her with annoyance dominant across his features.

"Ya think?" Even as they talked, his new regenerative abilities closed all his wounds before their very eyes.

She smirked and said, "You need to keep your emotions controlled. They are a basic form of intent, which as you know is one of the three basic components of magic utilization. And what did I say about a vampire's abilities?"

He looked at her with ire as he replied, "A vampire's powers are the result of diverting their magical aura to enhance their physical capabilities, mental attributes, magical skills, and things of that nature."

Her thin red lips pulled upwards as she replied, "That is correct. And your magical aura is a constant usage of magic, which means that-"

"My emotions are the driving force behind my vampiric abilities!" exclaimed Harry.

"But it isn't just the abilities that are affected, Harry. The less control you have over your emotions, the stronger your urges get as well. You are far more susceptible to the temptations of sex and feeding while too angry, happy, sad, scared, etc. The seal helps suppress most of your vampiric energy, but it can't do all of it. And if that tiny drop of remaining energy gains enough fuel from your emotions, it can override the seal. Your inner vampire will come out if you don't have emotional stability..."

Serana smiled seductively at him as he started to scowl at her. "Oh, don't give me that look."

"Give me back my wand then!"

Deciding not to acknowledge him, "You need to learn how to limit your Allure. Since humans are especially easy to fall for it, you're going to be using one of my thralls to test yourself," said Serana. At that moment, a beautiful woman with platinum hair and azure eyes stepped up to them. "Cassandra, I want you to be Harry's toy for a while. You are to tell him when you do and don't feel unnatural attraction to him.

Cassandra, who Harry noted was the ditzy but cute blonde that dropped a unicorn carcass during the cleanup of the dungeon, nodded happily at her task, and Harry asked, "Serana, what is a thrall, and how would I go about getting one for myself?"

Smiling, the vampiress replied, "A thrall is something between a servant and a slave that is bound to you through a unique vampiric ability. It requires you to inject your blood into them and then release them from any sexual tension that they may have." At those instructions, Harry turned from Serana to Cassandra, his mind telling him something that he couldn't quite believe.

"Then that means that you two-"

"Yes," replied Serana with twinkling eyes. "I've made Cassie cum many, many times. And she pleasures me as well..." Harry felt himself reacting to that quite strongly. "Maybe we'll show you or even let you join if you master your Allure?" Harry had never worked so hard at learning something in his entire life.

But then Equinox cut in, _"You might want to get back to the Burrow quickly; it's close to the time you're supposed to wake up."_

Harry nodded and said, "Maybe next time, eh Cassie, Serana? See you then." And then he disappeared in a wreath of black flames.  
_

Harry reappeared and quickly took off his clothes and glasses before jumping into bed, hearing several sets of footsteps coming up the stairs already. _"Good timing, Equinox. If you hadn't reminded me of the time, I wouldn't have made it back in time."_

_"Yes, well, maybe if you didn't spend all of your time ogling Serana's smoking body, you'd probably be better able to keep track of such things," _remarked Equinox.

"HARRY, YOU'RE BACK!" Jumping out of his bed in a blind panic, Harry stumbled over the blanket that was wrapped around his leg and fell into the nightstand beside his bed, banging his head into a window. It was incredibly odd to move around at the moment, his muscles responding much easier than he was used to. He cracked open his eyes and saw Ginny, Molly, and Hermione all staring at him with wide eyes from the doorway. Ron was somehow still snoozing through all the noise.

"Sup?" was all Harry said.

He had his back to the nearest window, so the early morning sunshine was like an angelic aura around him. He was about a foot taller than the last time they laid eyes on him about a day ago, with the exception of Hermione who just got back from her trip that morning apparently, and he was more muscular and quite a bit paler and he had red eyes... Okay, his appearance certainly warranted being stared at, but they were all staring at his crotch-

And then he noticed his morning wood, the only thing holding the blanket from falling to the floor. Luckily his privates were hidden by the fabric. He felt himself blush as their dazed expressions slowly gave way to something far _hungrier _and he began edging away. Ginny's head tilted to the side as she began prowling towards him like a predator, with Hermione not far behind. Mrs. Weasley was just standing still and staring at him unabashedly. He gulped at the attention, feeling quite embarrassed at the situation. "So... I'm back now..." They didn't seem to be listening to him.

He was uncomfortable with the attention, but a deeper, more integral part of him wanted to let the ladies do as they pleased. He felt himself _yearning _for their inevitable touches. His body begged him to indulge in some casual sex with his best friend's younger sister, as well as his other best friend... He grit his teeth, fighting very hard to control his body's natural instincts. Of course, this internal strife happened faster than any human would be able to emulate, and none of the females were any the wiser.

"RON, BREAKFAST IS READY!" came the combined voices of the Twins. There was a blur and Ron was out the door, not having noticed the odd happenings concerning his crush, his sister, his mother, and his best friend. All he knew was that food was available, and that's all he cared about. Luckily, his movements snapped the women out of their dazes and they all blushed before hurriedly leaving the room. Harry sighed shyly and got dressed before going downstairs for food.

Breakfast was a normal affair, though quite awkward as all the females pointedly looked anywhere but at him. Harry decided to stay in the kitchen and continue eating, because his constant training made him hungry. It wasn't like he particularly needed to eat anymore, but it was a very relaxing thing to do nowadays. Mrs. Weasley smiled approvingly at him after his fourth helping of eggs, hashbrowns, and waffles.

Everyone else was long gone by the time he was finished eating, shocked somewhat at finally having eaten more food than Ron in a single setting. It made the ginger level an accusatory glare at him, but he wasn't sure exactly what he did to warrant that.

Deciding to get his spell book so he could read in the comfortable outdoors, Harry walked up to Ron's door and kicked it open Spartan-style, shocking Ron and Hermione greatly, who were sitting quite close to each other.

Harry noticed that Hermione didn't look particularly comfortable at the proximity, but didn't think to look too much into it yet. Hermione's eyes seemed to be glowing as she looked at him. He took it as a compliment, especially since his Allure was turned down as far as it could go at the moment. Relieved that he didn't have to answer any questions yet, Harry walked into the closet and changed into a set of clothes.

He winced when he moved, his entire body sore from the intensity of the things the sadistic Vampiress made him do. Vampires were technically incapable of feeling sore, or so most textbooks would say. But Harry knew better now, especially since his soreness was in places he didn't know existed. It was weird, discovering entire portions of the body through pain that otherwise wouldn't be noticed. He quickly reappeared from the closet to find Ron and Hermione sitting on separate beds.

Smirking at the obvious tension which he never would have noticed before the events of this summer, Harry said, "Before you guys ask your inevitable questions, I'm going downstairs so I can answer everyone's questions all at once. Agreed?" Both nodded shyly, averting their gazes from one another. Without any more words, the trio trooped downstairs and sat at the dining table, because dinner would be ready in a few moments.

As soon as the Twins saw him, they simultaneously asked, "Where did you go last night, mate?" and "How did you leave so easily while Mum was so close by?" Then they got another look at him and said, "And why do you look so different?" Harry was surprised that they even noticed that he was gone, but then again they were probably going to prank him or something in the dead of night. Too bad he wasn't there...

Harry smiled and mysteriously said, "I got lost on the road of life."

"I don't believe you," said Twin B with squinted eyes, trying to see into Harry's soul... that or he was appraising its worth before he stole it. Never can be too sure of what gingers are ever truly thinking.

"Fine. The truth is that I jumped out the window of your bathroom and ran to Ottery St. Catchpole, but before I could get there I ran into a bunch of wood nymphs. And you know how they are, all like 'Let us go unto the forest together!'. So anyways, we all go into the forest and start doing the rain dance to appease the demon god Cthulhu, but were interrupted when a super hero threw a spaceship into a nearby carnival and killed a horde of zombies. Then I came back." He shrugged indifferently.

"... You're a liar," said Twin 2 with mock sadness.

"I thought you could trust us," said Feorge, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. Before Harry could come up with any more obviously fake stories, Ginny entered the room. He made sure that his allure was at its absolute low, but she was still staring at him with unwavering devotion. It was quite creepy. It reminded him about his lesson on thralls.

Gred noticed his sister's odd behavior and said, "Little Ginevra probably shouldn't stare at boys like that, it might give the wrong impressions..." He was trying to hint at his younger sister how blatantly obvious her crush was at the moment without alerting Harry, but the newly minted Vampire Lord already knew about it from a single glance in her direction and could easily read the message that was trying to be sent.

Too bad Ginny didn't seem to notice.

"So Harry, what is the purpose of a Rubber Duck?" asked Mr. Weasley, completely out of left field.

Harry edged away from the girl, not really sure what to do, as he answered, "Well... it... um..."

Luckily Molly entered with several platters of food, smiling warmly as her eyes found Harry. "Harry dear, we were so worried about you when you disappeared like that." She was smiling a bit too warmly as her eyes raked over his frame. Not sure how to take the rotund ginger woman's obvious sexual attention on him, Harry just nodded along with her. She apparently forgot all about trying to rape him earlier that morning along with her daughter and son's potential girlfriend.

Once everyone got their food, Mrs. Weasley said, "So Harry, where did you run off to this morning?"

Before Harry could answer, Ron came to his rescue by being a prat and saying, "D'you mind if I take some of your mashed potatoes?" He said this while he was already in the process of stealing them. Harry just raised an eyebrow at his best friend, feeling annoyance rise up. It was the same kind of annoyance that he felt when Mrs. Weasley fretted over him as if he were her son, or when Ginny was staring at him as if he was a green dinosaur.

A wooden spoon came out of nowhere and slammed into Ron's face, and Mrs. Weasley turned to Harry and said, "Would you forgive Ron for rudely stealing your mashed potatoes?" Harry nodded, and could see that she was about to ask him where he went again, but Hermione helped him out.

"What would you like to do for your birthday in a few weeks, Harry?" she asked with a small smirk on her face. The brunette witch was a godsend, a perfect deterrent to keep Mrs. Weasley from digging too much through his personal time. She was his buffer, capable of tactfully cutting off any invasive questions and redirecting attention to other subjects entirely. If Mrs. Weasley wanted to interrogate Harry with at least some modicum of tact and authority, she'd have to do it some time when Hermione wasn't around.

Harry smiled in appreciation of his friend as he lightly touched her arm with his hand and said, "I'm doing something earlier in the day for a short while," she knew he was talking about his weekly lesson with Chiron but nobody else did, "but I was thinking of meeting a few Pen Pals of mine at the ice cream shop in Diaggon Alley, you know Fortescue's place?" Hermione felt herself blushing at the contact despite her best efforts to fight her attraction down, as she nodded to show that she did, in fact, know of the place he mentioned.

Everyone at the table noticed the contact and subsequent blush.

Ron thought Hermione was practically his since he silently called dibs on her when he mentioned to Harry that he thought 'she has potential to maybe be a possibly pretty girl in the future'. That was as clear as day to him anyways. And now his best friend was moving in on his girl? Clearly when he touched her arm he was conveying romantic interest! Ron wouldn't let Harry beat him at another thing, not again...

Ginny narrowed her eyes as they darted between Harry and Hermione, also coming to the conclusion that the touch had romantic connotations. Hermione knew about Ginny's crush on Harry just like everybody else in the entire world did, save apparently Harry! The brunette was obviously trying to make her appear less desirable in some way! Well Ginny wasn't going to let little Ms. Bookworm beat her at this! Ginny'd known Harry much longer, having heard stories and tales about him ever since she was a little girl. The fact that Hermione actually physically met him before her was completely irrelevant to everything!

The twins just didn't really give a fuck about the status of Harry and Hermione's possible romantic relationship, and neither did Arthur. If Harry and Hermione wanted to get together, why should it matter to them?

But Mrs. Weasley was a different matter entirely. She'd been placing trace amounts of love potions in Harry's food that was directed towards Ginny since they would be a perfect match and would elevate the Weasley clan from being paupers into practically royalty if ever the two should wed. She did the same thing for Hermione but directed towards Ron, since she would fix all of his many, many flaws. But if Harry and Hermione got together, both of her youngest children were pretty much hung out to dry...

Harry just smiled pleasantly at everyone, knowing exactly what he just did. He completely derailed the interrogation of where he went and how he left, transforming it into one about his relationship with Hermione, all with a single gesture. "Yeah. Cho Chang, Luna Lovegood, Padma Patil, Susan Bones, and Daphne Greengrass are all invited. So are you guys, if you're interested," said Harry. The fact that all of his Pen Pals were girls wasn't lost on anybody.

Hermione smiled brilliantly as she replied, "I think Parvatti would automatically want to come with Padma, and Lavender always follows closely behind so you might as well invite all the Gryffindor girls in our year. But to be fair, you'd need to invite all the Hufflepuff girls too so Susan isn't left out. And maybe the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team for Cho, and a couple of Daphne's friends that aren't too low-brow?"

Arthur added, "You might want to invite Neville Longbottom along too, since his birthday is the same day." Yes, Harry already knew about that because of the Prophesy that Equinox told him about, but if Neville came then-

"You might as well invite all the Gryffindor guys in our year as well. I mean, Dean and Seamus probably won't like being the odd ones out, will they?"

Before Harry could even reply, Fred said, "Oh, what about the Quidditch Team? We'll all be meeting up in a week to support Wood, but I think it'd be nice to meet up earlier to celebrate your birthday."

"And can we bring along Lee Jordan too?" asked George hopefully.

Harry sighed and nodded, noticing that his originally planned small get together just turned into a party with nearly forty people. "Yeah sure, it sounds great," said Harry, his somewhat unhappy tone lost to everybody as they slowly just began adding more and more people to the list. Wizards and witches seemed to be awfully presumptuous about things like that.

As the list of names grew, so too did Harry's annoyance. And that was never a good thing. But it was even worse now that he was a vampire.


	13. Act One: Burrow, Part Two

**Chapter Notes: The end of rewrites in the traditional sense, though this story was originally a reboot of Phoenix Initiative, so it's an ongoing rewrite in and of itself... I doubt I'll be rewriting again for another twenty or so chapters, and even then it'll only be grammar or something like that. It just gets way too confusing.**

* * *

Harry held up the Basilisk egg to his eye, examining it thoroughly. He was currently sitting in Ron's room trying to get through the snoring. It was as white as a marble with black veins arcing across its surface. It was smooth and hard, and was surprisingly heavy considering the size.

He started concentrating on expanding his mind past his body, unfurling legilimentic tendrils of energy towards the egg. He felt a small wellspring of magic, and even some primitive thoughts escaping the confines of the shell.

He immediately began to form a stable mental connection with the Basilisk, feeling foreign emotions and sensations racing across the link. Errant thoughts and ideas, senses and moods were being transferred from one to another seamlessly, and Harry smiled in contentment at the feeling of safety emanating from his newest familiar. _"Hello there,"_said Harry.

This was the first time that he ever communicated telepathically with anything other than Chiron or Equinox. He was actually a little worried that something might go wrong, but everything seemed to be going well so far.

Rather than replying with language as Harry expected, the Basilisk conveyed an impression of confusion and trust, showing that it wanted to know his identity yet fully enjoyed being around him. It was strange, communicating without language, but he began to slowly grasp it. It was a raw and volatile exchange of pure information, and it made his head feel as light as a feather.

It took about ten minutes, but eventually he convinced the baby male serpent to hatch for him. And hatch it did.

Without much warning, the egg exploded outwards, and a miniature version of the creature that he killed only a little more than a year ago stared at him with unblinking eyes. It uncoiled, showing that it was already roughly twice the size of his arm. Considering the egg was only about the size of an Ostrich egg, that was quite an achievement.

As he slowly reached his hand out to pet the reptile, it practically purred and he could feel its sentience forming. If one were to watch a flower blooming at exaggerated speeds, that would be comparable to sensing a newly hatched Basilisk's cognitive growth.

Slowly winding its way around his arm, the snake said "**Thankss for awakening me. I'm ssurprissed that you are a sspeaker. Tell me, have you decided on a name for me?"**

As a matter of fact, he hadn't. He watched in fascination as the snake blurred and all but disappeared from plain view. That, more than anything else, made him decide on what was, in his humble opinion, the most badass name one could possibly give to a stealthy snake.

**"How about Shadow? I think it ssuitss you ssince you would be undetectable in darkness,"**reasoned Harry. He could sense the baby snake contemplating its new moniker over their link, and he felt acceptance and comfort wash over him, it rushing to him across their connection.

**"That is a good name, Master. I don't mind to be rude, but why do you ssmell like fire?"**asked Shadow.

**"It iss because I've got the First Blaze, though it is recessive" **replied Harry. He felt something from Shadow, like a dam of instinctual knowledge being broken. It made him shiver.

_"Oh, and you know how the Weasleys are about anything remotely dark. I'd hide Shadow if I were you,"_interjected Equinox.

_"Shadow can hide himself,"_chided Harry. **"****Can't you, Shadow?"**

**"Fo Sho"**was the dignified response he received from the noble beast of Salazar Slytherin. Apparently it could hear the entire mental conversation between Harry and Equinox.

The ghoul was banging pipes in the attic, and mysterious explosions were coming from the Twins' room. It was currently one in the morning, and Harry couldn't sleep anyway due to the excitement of hatching a baby basilisk. Of course, he no longer needed to sleep, but it was still a satisfying thing to do. He sighed and rolled over, screwing his eyes shut but still not feeling drowsy. Annoyed at all the noise in the house despite the time, Harry huffed and got out of the bed.

Putting on some jeans and a t-shirt, he decided to have a snack or something to pass the time. But on his way down the stairwell, he came upon a door that was slightly cracked open. It was Hermione's room, and faint light was visible through the tiny opening. Deciding to maybe talk with her, he slowly opened the door and peaked inside. He expected her to be reading a book or maybe talking to Ginny about girl-things, but what he saw was quite different from anything he ever expected.

Hermione and Ginny were sitting on opposite sides of the room, staring murderously at each other. "I don't know what you're up to concerning _my _Harry," began Ginny, "-but he will come to realize what sort of manipulative skank you really are, Hermione." That was unexpected, to say the least.

_"I never thought she'd be so forward about such things," _said Equinox. _"She's a lot different than I remember her being. I wonder if I accidentally traveled an alternate universe rather than backwards in time? That would explain the Weasley clan's behavior... Or maybe they always acted this way and I never noticed?"_

Hermione huffed indignantly and said, "I am _not _trying to manipulate him in any way, shape, or form. I don't need to do something like that, I'm already friends with him. Besides, if anyone is a manipulative skank around here, its definitely you... or possibly even your mother..."

Out of nowhere, Shadow stuck his head out of Harry's short sleeve and mentally replied, **~I think the fact that your original body had love potion sswimming through its veinss probably changed how you percceived their behavior, and now that you aren't consstrained to that body, the potion iss no longer affecting you. Maybe you did noticce ssuch atrocciouss actionss but outright ignored it due to compulsion charmss, or maybe they used memory charmss on you. There'ss alsso the posssibility that you were a total fucking jackasss when you were younger.~**

"What did you just say about my mum? I-I can't even... how could you say something like that?" asked Ginny whose voice was shaking with barely contained rage. Then her anger quickly disappeared and she smirked, saying, "You're just jealous of me. I'm more popular than you at school, guys like me better in general, and I still get good grades despite not working even a tenth as hard as you do. Plus, you know the stories about Potter men and redheads, don't you?"

_"Honestly, I'm gonna go with the last option,"_ Harry mentally projected back, trying to ignore the two girls fighting as he turned away from the door cautiously and began moving quietly down to the kitchen.

He felt confusion coming from his future self's memory partition and his familiar basilisk, so he continued, _"I mean, think about it. Before Chiron started teaching me about the mental arts, or Durza explained how magic actually works, or Harkon turned me into a Vampire Lord, I wasn't all that bright. Between the restrictions placed on me by Dumbledore, which I will get revenge for by the way, and my shitty upbringing, I was next to completely clueless when it came to... well, pretty much everything."_

_"Are you admitting to stupidity?" _asked an incredulous Equinox. "_I think you're a lot more mature than I was at your age... or at least the being that I collectively made up along with four other partitions." _At this point, Harry stepped on a wooden stair that squeaked with ominous volume and he stopped with gritted teeth, hoping that nobody heard. While he knew he wouldn't get in trouble for being out of bed at the Burrow, he had too many memories of the Dursleys and their horrible attitudes when woken up before they wanted to be.

_"Wait, there were only five partitions altogether? You didn't have all seven?"_ asked Harry inquisitively. Deciding that either nobody heard his midnight trek so far, or nobody gave enough fucks to investigate why the stairs were squeaking, he continued down the stairs. He heard muffled laughter echoing out of the Twins' room and was almost too scared to even imagine what they were up to at such an hour of the night that would result in mirth.

He shivered, and heard snippets of annoyed arguments between Hermione and Ginny starting to quietly float down the stairs. He idly wondered how anybody hadn't noticed their fight yet, but then again he did have superhuman hearing...

_"Yes you perceptive bastard. It takes a stupendous amount of willpower to keep just five partitions going. Sure, it increases thought processes, information gathering, and task management, but each partition is powered by sheer force of will. I remember Chiron specifically stating that only the prodigies and geniuses of the mental arts ever actually can use up to seven parts, and even then they might not be active all the time."_

Now Harry was quietly shuffling across the ground floor towards the kitchen, hoping that he wouldn't disturb anyone with noise, though he doubted it really mattered if everyone could sleep through the racket caused by the arguing girls and laughing twins.

_"Why would it be difficult to have multiple partitions, or even to have them all going simultaneously? I can understand it would be difficult to split yourself into pieces like that, but I don't see why it would be difficult afterwards,"_ Harry nonverbally communicated back to his phoenix.

Now he was searching through a refrigerator, or at least the magical equivalent of the muggle contraption, for something to eat or drink that wouldn't cause too much noise. So far, he hadn't seen much of anything that he could instantly eat other than fruit, and for some reason he only seemed to want meat nowadays. Maybe it was the vampirism, or maybe it was the increase in workouts and martial arts practice that he began undergoing since the summer began.

Harry actually felt Equinox's exasperated sigh and knew that he was in for a very long explanation, "_Imagine, if you can, having multiple conscious beings residing in a singular body. Each being would vie for control of the body's resources, or they would all be segmented into allocated amounts of time for total control. That's what having memory partitions is like, only the original being, you, have limited control over the others. Basically, you are the owner and boss of the body, telling the others what to do."_

Shrugging indifferently, Harry decided he didn't give a fuck if he made any noise and began getting out eggs, butter, and milk. None were bought in a convenience store like he was used to, so it should be far fresher too.

_"I still don't really see exactly why its such a big deal,"_ thought Harry. _"I mean, how difficult could it be to just give them orders and gain limited control over them? Its not like they're real people, no offense."_

Pulling out a nearby skillet and spatula, Harry used the spatula to wipe a thin layer of butter onto every surface of the skillet that would be touching the eggs, to keep the gooey food from sticking to it. Cracking six eggs onto the edge of the skillet, he poured the yellow and clear viscous liquid and discarded the empty egg shells, his stomach starting to growl all the while.

_"I took offense regardless, you dick. It would be incredibly difficult to control them, because they_ are _you. You have to prove to them that you are the alpha of the pack, so to speak.__They don't have to follow your orders if they don't want to, and they could theoretically overpower you and take over your body if you aren't careful enough."_

Harry poured in some of the milk and began whisking the concoction at slightly above superhuman speeds. He couldn't use all of his vampiric agility because it was mostly sealed away, but he still had enough to make his limbs seem like blurs as he moved about the kitchen. Or at least, they'd seem like a blur to a human. To him, it felt like he was just moving at slightly exaggerated speeds. If only he knew.

_"That sounds infinitely more scary than I originally thought it'd be like. I can't imagine having my body taken over by something that I created,"_ commented Harry. He frowned, realizing that he had no fucking clue how to work the magical stove. There didn't appear to be any dials or number inputs, or really anything to control the temperature. This was quite the dilemma, and he honestly hadn't thought this through all the way.

_"This is actually one of the reasons that creating a mental partition is considered to be one of the most difficult to master and use mental techniques. You must dominate the other versions of yourself, subjugating their will with your own. In fact, it is incredibly similar to the Imperius Curse, but like using it on yourself because each partition is a different aspect of your personality, a representation if you will. Some partitions are better at building mental defenses or encrypting the thoughts of the Master. When partitions aren't in use, they typically just go into something akin to hibernation, waiting until they're called upon by their creator."_

_"So I could basically shut them down if they get out of hand?"_ asked Harry, as he began thoroughly inspecting the stove-top. His powerful eyes were roving over the surface of the antique kitchen appliance, searching for some way to activate the contraption. His heart began sinking as he realized that it would likely require magic and that he couldn't use it until over the age of seventeen.

But then again, the Ministry could only really monitor a general area and relied on adults to supervise children and prevent them from using magic. This meant that, since he was in a house with an adult witch and wizard, he could likely get away with using magic. Though it might get them in trouble since the use of underage magic at their house would still be noticed, and if they caught him... well, he'd never had Mrs. Weasley's legendary wrath upon him, but he really didn't want to experience it.

_"No, you need to control them and have them agree to hibernate, otherwise they don't have to. Anyways, as I was saying before you interrupted: due to the unique nature of partitions, it is far easier to use the Imperius Curse than creating and controlling a mental partition. The Imperius Curse is directed by the intent to dominate somebody else and the willpower to actually smother their minds. However, controlling a mental partition requires you to dominate an exact replica of yourself with slight differences in character. And the more partitions there are, the more copies of yourself that you need to smother. Do you see why having multiple partitions could be difficult to handle or even problematic for most people?"_

_"... Yes,"_ said Harry. _"But now that I'm a Vampire Lord, wouldn't it be easier?"_ He began to contemplate: should he retrieve his wand and activate the stove and risk getting caught by either the Ministry or the Elder Weasleys, or should he go get one of the adults to help him? The last option would be rather embarrassing and just absurd, so he cast it away.

He could easily just leave everything where it was and pretend to either not have an idea about why it was out, pretend that he had a sleep walking problem where he always tried to cook scrambled eggs, or put the dishes away and hope that nobody asked where six eggs mysteriously disappeared to. He was loathe to waste food like that since he used to be starved by the Dursleys, and ever since then always ate as much food as was given to him no matter what. So that really just meant that he should just go ahead and use magic on the stove and hope to Zeus that he didn't get caught.

_"Technically it would be since your mind is now a perfect lattice on a biological level... you may be able to actually use all seven possible partitions, though I doubt you'd be able to use them all at the same time." _

Harry began to quietly sneak back up the stairs to procure his wand from his trunk, which was still in Ron's room. It'd only been a few minutes since he came down, but there was already so much more information in his head that it felt like much more time had passed. He masterfully avoided the creaky stair and passed Hermione and Ginny's room to hear them still arguing with one another.

"Oh yeah? Well I bet that even if you did fucking suddenly grow a pair and decide to ask the bastard out, he'd refuse you flat out because he knows what kind of a fucking bitch you really are, whore!"

_"Well that escalated quickly,"_ Harry thought in regards to the two girls' argument with exasperation. _"Anyways, if mental partitions share bodies with their creators, then how are you a familiar to your creator... my future self? Wouldn't your presence imply that you are my future self? Or, if not, how is it that you are capable of being separated from your master... or sent back in time in the first place? Wouldn't the very act of going back in time lead to the same exact events that caused such actions to take place?"_

He passed the Twins' room and heard the laughter of a stereotypical movie villain, and heard them both say in eerie synchronization, "Soon..." He gulped and continued up to his and Ron's room, frowning about how the door was closed even though he specifically remembered keeping it open so he could quietly enter later.

"_To answer your questions: I am capable of being separated from my originator due to my nature; I'm the mental partition representation of his animagus form, thus allowing me to control my progenitor's animagus form."_

He briefly wondered if Ron got up and closed the door due to the ruckus of the Twins' and the girls, but highly doubted it since Ron could sleep through a nuclear holocaust without noticing a thing. Maybe the ghoul came down from the attic and closed the door, or maybe a draft came through an open window? But that would've been noisy and he didn't remember a window being open, and the ghoul hated leaving the attic...

_"Are you telling me that my animagus form is a phoenix? I didn't even know that magical creatures could be animagus forms..."_ He cautiously approached the door and strained his ear to hear anything. Luckily, he didn't hear anything out of the ordinary, just Hedwig and Pigwidgeon hooting happily to each other. However, it felt quiet, almost too quiet. At first Harry couldn't quite pinpoint exactly what was missing, and he felt like it was something at least mildly important. What was missing? The owls hooting, the crinkling of sheets, the cricketing of crickets...

_"No, I'm telling you that the Harry that originally formed me had a phoenix as his animagus form. There are some differences in this world than where I came from, tiny details like how people behave or the locations of ley lines and foci sites being changed by two degrees... The point is that this unique ability, granted to me through random chance, allowed me to separate myself from my precursor and form a separate body, thus isolating me from him and allowing me to become an independent entity on an entirely different level than other mental partitions. My body is made up almost entirely of my forerunner's mana, and as such is not something that physically exists..."_

_"What exactly are you saying?"_ asked Harry.

What was missing from his auditory senses, was the loud, thunderous snoring of his roommate, Ronald Bilius Weasley. And if Ron wasn't snoring at the same volume of a freight train derailing and smashing through a zoo, then that meant that the Ginger was awake. And if Ron was awake, then Harry would have to deal with his constant bitching about how his life was so tragic compared to Harry's.

Of course, Ron was a self-centered git who constantly complained about his rightful anonymity compared to his older siblings and best friend, but it still annoyed Harry that the kid had anything to complain about. At least he had a family in the first place...

_"... Besides, phoenixes are not governed by the laws of time and space like most other creatures. We are S-Class phantasmal creatures just like elves, faeries, vampires, warlocks, and werewolves. I am an energy being that can exist outside of causality along with angels, demons, gods, titans, and spirits. I belong with the SS-Class beings, but am only powerful enough to be considered S-Class..."_

_"M'kay..."_

_"I am not a biological creature, but a magical creature, manifested almost completely in the celestial and astral planes, rather than the terrestrial plane where you are predominately disposed to be. Why do you think I've only shown myself to people that are gifted in the mind arts? The goblins, centaurs, and vampires are all way beyond anything that most humans are in such fields, and as such their ability to perceive things in the other planes is better than that of humans."_

_"And here I just thought you were shy around other people. So-"_ At this point, Harry decided to open the door and was so distracted by the surprise waiting in store for him that he stopped mentally projecting his voice to both Equinox and Shadow, and just stared with mouth agape at the awe inspiring sight before him. Sitting cutely on his bed was Tonks, who was pouting cutely at him.

"I came all the way up here just to see you," said the metamorphmagus seductively. Her voice purred and she continued, "But when I got here, you were already gone. I'm curious where you went... why don't you sit next to me and explain?" She accented her request by patting the spot on the mattress next to her, and Harry realized that she was very scantily clad.

She was wearing nothing more than a bath robe and undergarments, but he didn't initially notice it because, as a Vampire Lord even with suppressed desires, all of his attention was on her face. The sparkling bright eyes that changed color before him, the cute little nose, the high cheek bones, the moist red lips...

He growled to keep himself under control and said, "Tonks, what exactly are you doing here?" Even as he said it, he smelled the pheromones rolling off the divine woman, smelled the sweet nectar of her arousal. He gulped and clenched his jaw simultaneously, probably making a very strange face though Tonks didn't seem to notice just how uncomfortable he was. He could feel the seal on his vampiric side starting to erode as his desire grew.

He wanted to have her, to be with her, to be _in _her.

She pursed her lips as if in thought, but really just showing off how luscious they were in the faint moonlight that filled the room, "Well... I put on a skimpy outfit, came all the way up into your room and sat on your bed, placed a silencing charm on your annoying friend, and waited for you to return... what do you think I'm doing?"

Her eyes twinkled mischievously as she saw him gulp in response yet again. She smirked triumphantly and continued, "You know, your innocence is charming and endearing, but your body is alluring and intoxicating. It is quite a powerful combination, if I do say so myself."

"Innocence?" questioned Harry quietly, as he slowly began walking towards her.

Nodding she said, "I can tell that you're a virgin simply from how you're reacting to my presence. In fact, I'd wager a guess that you haven't even kissed a girl yet, which is rather strange considering how amazingly rich, bizarrely famous, and obviously talented you are. It gives you this innocent aura that is, as I previously stated, charming and endearing. You've probably had fantasies in the past about girls; maybe even Hermione or Ginny, or possibly even both at the same time?"

At her words, Harry felt his face blush, even though that was highly unusual for vampires, let alone vampire lords, to succumb to. It just highlighted how embarrassed he was at her comments... praise?

Never in a million years did Harry ever think that he would be in this situation, though he did, in fact, imagine such a scenario once or twice... or hundreds of times. Of course all of his imagined sexual escapades usually involved Cho Chang, Su Li, Katie Bell, Daphne Greengrass, and other attractive girls from his school. He hadn't actually given any older women thought before, but now that one had practically landed in his lap... well, he wasn't going to look a gift-horse in the mouth, now was he? And thus, he came to the decision to take his shirt off and slowly approach the amazing female before him.

"Harry. James. Potter. There are so many things I'd like to do with you... to you... for you to do to me..." said Tonks as she leaned back and placed her head on the pillow of his bed.

"Um... um..."

"I actually know what you are, what you're capable of. As an Auror, I've had to face my fair share of vampires, but I never did get the pleasure of meeting an actual Vampire Lord. I know that vampires have all their physical characteristics enhanced by a factor of six, including their sex drive. I also know that Vampire Lords have the same difference between regular vampires as the gap between common vampires and humans."

Well, the conversation was no longer as sexy as it once was, but Harry still felt the urge to begin unbuttoning his jeans.

She smirked at his actions, seeming almost amused at how her technical talk wasn't really deterring him from the goal of coming closer and closer to her body. She shrugged off the bathrobe and flung it to the floor, showing off her black lace bra and matching panties.

Harry nearly tripped at the display, and she continued nonplussed, "If this is true, then it is a factor of six between Vampire Lords and normal vampires. Thus makes the difference between Vampire Lords and humans a factor of thirty six, also including sex drive..."

Her eyes were glued to his own, changing from green to grey to pink to orange before she continued softly, "So you have the same sexual needs as thirty six average hormone driven teenage humans... and yet you've somehow managed to keep your virginity for however long you've been a vampire lord. It makes me wonder how many times you had to relieve yourself of the sexual tension all alone, and that actually saddens me. You should be with somebody who appreciates you for what you are, for who you are... I appreciate you... I've had several partners, but never a nonhuman..."

Were they moving too fast? Probably. Did they give any fucks? Absolutely not.

Harry slowly crawled onto the bed, cautiously moving his own face towards Tonks's. He was only in his underwear, socks, and shoes. Right before his lips tentatively met hers, he wondered how he managed to take his pants off without taking off his shoes, but kicked that stray thought right in the nuts. He kicked his shoes off and they clattered noisily to the floor, but Ron wouldn't be waking soon and everyone else in the house was either asleep, causing explosions, or arguing.

He licked his lips when they were millimeters away from hers, and she frowned. "Don't lick your lips right before a kiss," said Tonks disapprovingly, "-it makes the kiss too wet and a little awkward." Harry stopped moving closer, his face turned blank, and he tilted his head to the side. She smiled encouragingly and said, "Its okay. Aside from protecting you, I'll also be teaching you how to please a woman. The lessons will be very hands-on, informative, and, in my humble opinion, really fuckin' enjoyable. Don't worry about any mistakes you make with me, I'll just fix them and we'll continue..."

He nodded, a little confused about the course of their make-out session, which hadn't even begun yet, but decided to roll with it for now. Deciding his lips were dry enough, he finally closed the distance and touched his lips to hers. His entire face started feeling tingly, but he fought through the pleasant sensation to try molding his mouth into the proper shape. This was his first ever kiss, and it seemed to be going fairly well. He opened his eyes, and just saw her staring back with a bemused expression.

Breaking the lip contact, she said, "Alright, we're really going to have to work on your kissing skills. However, I don't feel like torturing either of us any longer, so I'm just gonna go ahead and take charge..."

And then she somehow flipped them both over, to where she was on top and he was below her. She was straddling him and rubbing against him in ways that should have been illegal... actually they were illegal since he was underage, but that was beside the point. Its not like he'd be reporting her or anything.

She reached behind her back and unhooked her bra all by herself, since she really didn't trust Harry to do it without ruining the mood with his romantic awkwardness. She leaned in close, whispering huskily into his ear, "One day, you'll get the hand of this. But for now, just let me do all the work..." She felt him nod stupidly to her request and she grinned, gently nibbling on his ear lobe. She felt his body tense at the unexpected action, and then she felt his special parts start reacting even more.

"... Only slightly bigger than average? I'd have thought it would be a bit more impressive than six inches, but then again you are only fourteen... You'll be able to make up for that by the time I'm through with you... or just use an Engorgio Charm..."

_"A carton of eggs? Two sickles. A gallon of milk? Three sickles. A tub of butter? Two sickles. Hearing a younger version of your master getting seduced by a metamorphmagus on his protection detail, who then proceeds to criticize nearly every romantic action he takes as well as the size of his penis? Priceless."_

_"Fuck you, bird!"_

_"It seems that someone else is beating me to it..."_  
_

Harry awoke the next morning to sunshine right in his face. That was his least favorite way to wake up, but considering how awesome his previous night was, he still couldn't help but smile despite the shitty way to start his day. He yawned and stretched, pulling the blankets around his body and realizing that he was alone in the bed. He missed the warmth of Tonks's body, but knew that it wouldn't be a very good idea for her to stay in bed with him. If they were caught, Mrs. Weasley would likely punish him in horrible ways that he couldn't describe.

He rolled out of bed and noticed that he had morning wood, again. He was about to get rid of it the old fashioned way, but for a split second felt like called Tonks up to help deflate it. Of course, before he could do anything he remembered that Ron was still in the room with him. If there was one thing he wouldn't do, it was masturbate while another guy was in the same room as him. For some reason having sex while Ron was less than ten feet away didn't make him as uncomfortable as the thought of just jerking himself did. Maybe he'd take a cold shower instead.

Getting out of bed, Harry walked to the bathroom and heard Mrs. Weasley shrieking, "WHO WASTED THESE EGGS? RON, WAS IT YOU?"

_"Damn that bitch has some strong lungs," _said Equinox.

Harry quickly took his cold shower to deflate his one-eyed horse, brushed his teeth the muggle way, and phoenix-flashed away. He had a lot of things to do today. Good thing it was only about nine in the morning now...


	14. Act One: Lianshang Alley

**Chapter Notes: For some of you this chapter may appear to be coming out of left field, but it's actually meant to be that way. Also, keep in mind that this entire story has so far spanned only about four days.**

* * *

_"Remind me how this will be helping Sirius again," _said Harry, who was having second thoughts about their current course of action. _"I mean, you explained it, but it still doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me," _he clarified. They were currently in Diagon Alley, having spontaneously combusted into existence like so many times before. But now, they were on a mission much more important than simply checking the bank.

The midnight phoenix chuckled and said, _"I wouldn't expect you to understand after a single explanation, since its probably one of the most complicated plans I've ever come up with. How to explain? Well, Sirius will not get a fair trial in the current political climate, or likely ever due to how corrupt the Ministry has become." _That was putting it lightly.

_"I can see that happening," _Harry conceded. _"However, I still don't see how you can help him get free, me get my vaults under my control, and take power from both the Ministry and Dumbledore. There's too much at stake, and too many points in this convoluted scheme for it to ever work. Honestly, I doubt it'll ever work." _His fears were actually rather well founded in this instance, but the payoff would be much greater than the possible risks.

_"Stop being such a Negative Nancy, you Debbie Downer. The reason this plan is so multifaceted is to keep Dumbledore or Voldemort from figuring out the entire plan. I assume you'll agree with me that nobody will ever see it coming?" _answered Equinox with a touch of condescension. Sometimes Harry wondered if it were possible to cook and eat a phoenix. He had a feeling that it would taste like chicken.

_"Look, it's just that the odds of this plan actually working out are so slim..." _said Harry, though he petered off when he felt his companion's annoyance rise up like a cobra about to strike a defenseless child or somebody stupid enough to poke its sleeping form with a stick. _  
_

_"Oh, stop being such a little bitch,"_ was Equinox's eloquent rebuttal to such a farcical and erroneous assertion, at least in the bird's mind._ "This is all for a great cause, and your nonstop whining is starting to get on my nerves. If you can't go through with it, I'll just have to transfer consciousnesses between us so I can make the preparations. Honestly, I thought you'd be jumping for joy at such a turn of events," _admonished the firebird.

_"So what can you tell me about Lianshang Alley?" _asked Harry, hoping to change the subject. He wondered how Shadow, his recently hatched Basilisk, was handling his current mission; spying on the Weasley matriarch when he wasn't there.

_"I've never actually been in the alley, though I can tell you that it's more than a simple __Chinatown__ like most muggle cities seem to have. From what I've heard, there were so many Chinese immigrants to __Britain__ once the Crown claimed __Hong Kong__ that a special area was set up for them. One of the first families to come over was the Chang dynasty, which is probably one of the richest families that aren't considered noble. They dominate the market for silks, spices, tea... among other things..." _replied Equinox.

_"So tell me, what do you know about the Chang family?" _asked Harry.

_"Originally they supported Voldemort when he returned, though I hope to change that this time around. In my timeline, they had nothing to do with him during his first reign of terror, but they were major unofficial allies of his during his second brief rise," _said Equinox. The way that his companion talked about future events in the past tense now that he knew his true nature really threw Harry for a loop, especially considering how matter-of-factly it spoke of attempted genocide against muggleborns.

_"Why in all the different versions of hell imaginable would they side with HIM of all people? Doesn't he support the prevailing xenophobic tendencies of the Ministry? Sorry, it just seems rather counterproductive to join a guy who publicly condemns you along with most other citizens of your country," _said Harry. In case you didn't know, the government machine known as the Ministry has some rather oppressive legislation and propaganda concerning anything other than rich old pureblooded white men.

_"They joined him because the Wizengamot refused to allow the Changs a seat, and, as such, Gringotts didn't elevate their status to noble. So the admittedly bourgeoisie family held a grudge and began plotting their revenge," _answered Equinox. The fact that he was currently discussing the people that he was sending Harry to speak to at the moment wasn't very comforting. In fact, Harry felt like a sheep being handed by the shepherd over to a pack of wolves. Angry, Chinese wolves to be precise.

Harry blinked in disbelief. _"So they helped to topple the government because it wouldn't give them what they wanted?" _he asked incredulously. It seemed a bit self indulgent on their part from the Boy-Who-Lived's perspective, but then again the most backwards thinking was easily observable in the vast majority of the wizarding world's populace.

_"Well it sort of makes sense when you look at it from their perspective. To the Chang family it seemed as if something that belonged to them was being withheld by a corrupt government. They certainly overreacted, of that we agree on, but you must recognize that honor and pride are the foundations of modern wizarding society,"_ explained the phantasmal avian.

_"Those two concepts, honor and pride, are also the two greatest weaknesses of modern wizarding society,"_ quipped Harry in a somewhat aggressive tone.

Harry couldn't see Equinox since the black phoenix was currently inhabiting his magical core, but he still got the feeling that it rolled its eyes at him. _"Where was I? Oh yes: when Voldemort began recruitment the second time around, they joined early as covert supporters, supplying him with any number of items from the black market. Slaves, drugs, weapons, antiques... the Changs dealt in everything."_

_"But what about Cho?" _asked Harry, trying to imagine the cute, innocent young girl from their quidditch match the previous year committing dastardly deeds in the name of the Dark Lord. _"It just doesn't seem like something she would do, ya know?" _he said, hoping that somehow she wasn't involved with the snake-faced bastard.

_"Well... Cho was a black sheep amongst her family, siding with the Light instead of Voldemort, though she admittedly wasn't aware of her family's allegiance at the time,"_ said Equinox. _"In fact, it was when Cho's mother decided to side with her instead of her father that Voldemort slaughtered the whole family except for Cho herself, who happened to be in hiding with the Order at the time."_

_"Oh,"_ said Harry, wondering how else he was supposed to reply to that.

_"Its okay, I'm just hoping to avoid the wholesale slaughter of her family this time around. We don't really need any unnecessary bloodshed, especially if this goes down similarly to how it did in my timeline. Hopefully your actions now will help prevent casualties of war in the coming years, Harry,"_ said Equinox.

_"And how do you propose that I, a fourteen year old, will be able to save so many people's lives?"_ asked a dubious Harry.

_"Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect?"_ asked Equinox. Seeing that Harry hadn't, and knowing it beforehand, Equinox explained his own rhetorical question, _"It is the concept that the flapping of a butterfly's wings are capable of producing a tiny amount of wind that escalates and grows until its a storm on the other side of the planet."_

_"That's got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard,"_ said Harry. _"I mean, that doesn't even make sense. How could something like that possibly happen, and even if it could, there are so many butterflies in the world that there would be a constant storm everywhere!_"

_"..."_ said Equinox.

_"..."_ said Harry.

_"... So anyways, about that butterfly effect... um... okay, so in regards to time-travel, it is very similar. Imagine going back in time several million years to the age of dinosaurs and accidentally killing a butterfly. What if that butterfly was supposed to be the supper of the mammalian creature that would one day evolve into man? What if, due to starvation, that creature died and humanity was never born? I was trying to get across that the tiniest deviations can have enormous results,"_ said Equinox.

_"Right, of course that's what you were trying to say. So how exactly will this deviation affect anything? I'm all for saving lives, but I can't really see how befriending the Chang family will keep Sirius alive longer,"_ said Harry.

_"I have a plan that will hopefully keep Sirius alive for much longer, and it's entirely dependent on whether or not the Chang family likes you. As you know, they are the foremost traders in the black market between China and Britain. They have contacts all over the world, which is why it would be beneficial to befriend them."_

_"Still don't see exactly how that affects Sirius,"_ said Harry.

_"Alright, I'll explain further. The Chang family has ways of making people disappear,"_ said the phoenix. The way that statement was uttered sounded rather sinister, and a shiver went down Harry's spine at the sheer amount of malevolence being displayed by the bird.

Harry's eyes bulged out at the insinuation, as he mentally shrieked, _"I'm not letting them kill him!"_

_"Oh, sorry, that was a horrible mistake on my part. What I meant to say is that they can help him disappear,"_ replied Equinox, somehow conveying a sarcastic smirk with the tone of its mental projection. Something told Harry that the bird was playing a joke on him, mostly because the bird didn't sound very apologetic at the misinterpretation. In fact it seemed quite deliberate on the ebony bird of flame's part.

_"Your sense of humor really leaves something to be desired, Equinox. As for Sirius, he's already disappeared, in fact he's not even in the country at the moment. Why would he need their help?"_ said Harry.

_"Because with their help he can live a normal life. If everyone thinks that he's dead, nobody will search for him. All he needs to do is awaken the Black family's latent metamorphmagus abilities and he could hide anywhere. He just needs to get to the Black Family Crest, which I know the location of," _said Equinox.

_"Alright that makes actual sense, but it seems like he could easily fake his own death without the help of a Chinese crime family. In fact, it seems a little redundant to involve them. I'm getting a little curious as to how long this little scheme of yours took to cook up. Were you high when the idea came to you, or is there some ulterior motive at play here?"_questioned Harry.

_"Oh good, you're learning to look underneath the underneath. However, you're being rather insulting and ungrateful at the moment. It took a long time to come up with the whole plan... okay, maybe five minutes tops, but it's still a brilliant strategy. Just think about it: once he can take on anyone's appearance, he could act as a distant relative of yours or possibly a foreign exchange student and accompany you everywhere. Plus his death could really help you out,"_ said Equinox.

_"Him constantly being around would be great. However this still doesn't explain why it's necessary to involve the motherfucking triad. Give me an actual reason and stop diverting my attention. Honestly, we're nothing alike. It makes me wonder just how old you really were before you came back."_

_"I did mention that my thought processes were almost completely shifted away from traditional thinking when I explained this earlier, ya know. And I'm glad you've noticed what I'm doing. This is a form of verbal training to prepare you for similar conversations in the future with Dumbledore. Also, a little cunning never hurt anybody. And for the record, I am simply a mental partition trapped within the confines of a phantasmal animagus form forced to go back in time by the collective of consciousnesses that made up Harry Potter where I came from,"_ said Equinox.

_"You diverted again, and if you aren't going to tell me then I just won't do it,"_ said Harry.

_"We're doing this so that you can form an alliance with a powerful player. No you don't necessarily need to use them, but the influence of Jian Chang is enormous, almost on par with the Malfoy family. The Chang compound is a fortress, hidden inside Lianshang Alley, which is practically a sanctuary from both the Ministry and Hogwarts in and of itself. They have safehouses scattered all over the place and a veritable army of smugglers, loan sharks, drug dealers, you name it. I think it would be best to keep that sort of influence away from Voldemort, don't you?"_ asked Equinox.

Harry shrugged and said, _"Alright, though I still don't see how exactly Sirius's fake death is supposed to directly help me. I mean, other than getting to see him a lot more while he's disguised of course."_

_"Of course,"_ agreed Equinox. _"You see, he has a last will and testament naming you, his godson, as the sole beneficiary of the Black family estate, which means that you could have another seat in the Wizengamot and another Crest under your command. Plus, if we made it out as you killing him for the retribution of his betrayal of your parents, you would gain public sympathy, ample respect, and I'd imagine a rather hefty bounty."_

_"Alright, so faking his death actually seems like a good idea at the moment, but there is still something that I'm wondering. How exactly are we going to get the Chang family's support in the first place? I don't exactly have anything to barter for this since all of my money is either locked up or being closely monitored by that manipulative bastard (Dumbledore). What will we give them to convince them that this will be a good idea?"_ wondered Harry.

Equinox smiled and told him.

Harry's eyes widened in surprise.

And then they appeared in front of the gate into Lianshang Alley. Only people with passports were allowed access into the place, and even then they were to remain on designated paths while being escorted by a small contingent of what appeared to be a militia group. Luckily, Harry picked up his passport earlier at Gringotts so he had the proper authorization to enter.

As he did so, Harry stopped his silent conversation with his companion. He wanted all of his attention on his surroundings, because it wasn't everyday that you got to step from the wizarding equivalent of London to a magical proxy of Shanghai instantaneously. Though then again, anything was possible with magic, so he could theoretically travel from Britain to China in the blink of an eye, though he expected that it would be unpleasant.

The first thing Harry noticed right off the bat was that there were many differences between Diagon and Lianshang. However, the most obvious was, unsurprisingly, the language. Signs with Chinese characters were all over the place, selling everything from medicinal herbs and spices, to live chickens and salmon.

Then there was, of course, the architecture, which was far more vibrant than the neutral colors that he was accustomed to. Sweeping gabled roofs, round columns, curtain walls and door panels, random lily ponds, circular doorways, and towers that looked like multiple colorful huts stacked on top of each other dotted the alley.

Actually, calling it an 'alley' wouldn't really capture just how big the place was on the inside. It was more like an entire town in and of itself, contained in the space of an alley with what appeared to be extensive usage of expansion charms. Lianshang seemed to be about a tenth of the size of London by itself.

Harry wondered why such areas were called alleys when they were so much more than that, but decided it didn't matter. Lianshang had multiple residential, commercial, and surprisingly industrial districts. The deeper into the alley, the more affluent the place appeared to be. Towards the entrance there were as many beggars in the street as Knockturn. Luckily the militiamen surrounding Harry were intimidating enough to keep the pleas for money at a minimum.

Though they weren't hags, they were still unpleasant to look at. Hopefully these people would have better lives some day, but for now he had business to attend to. In the meantime they were ignored as Harry and the militia contingent made their way to the Chang Compound that was as far as one could go. All of the older families in Lianshang had family compounds rather than manors dotting the English countryside like the white nobles.

It took only about ten minutes of searching before he found his desired destination. The compound more closely resembled a palace than anything else in his humble opinion. Harry approached the large ornate gate, and a servant was looking at him with a surprisingly bright smile on her face. She looked familiar to Harry but he couldn't quite place her.

Upon noticing them, she bowed deeply and asked, "Mr. Potter?". Harry nodded and she smiled brightly while still bowed, saying, "My master has been expecting you ever since Gringotts contacted him for permission to let someone visit." Harry noticed her eyes flit to his scar before a slight blush came to her cheeks when she knew she was caught, and her eyes were downcast. "Sorry about that," she continued.

Harry chuckled and said, "Its fine. Hey, could you stop bowing? Its sort of freaking me out a little bit." She smiled warmly at him and stood up, her eyes raking in his appearance. They stood there for a few moments before Harry continued, "So how old are you? You look like you could be in my year at Hogwarts this year."

The girl's blush deepened and she said, "I am currently working for the Chang family so that they'll pay for my tuition."

Harry was a bit startled, "What? Won't the government pay for you to go or something?"

"Are you talking about the fund set up by the Board of Governors for the needy and impoverish to gain an education at England's premiere magical school?" At the nod of Harry's head, she actually laughed and continued, "That is only available to British citizens, and even then they must have exceptional potential with magic. I am not considered a British citizen because I was born in Beijing to parents that sold me into slavery."

"Wait a minute... are you telling me that you're a-" said Harry, but she cut him off.

"No. The Changs noticed that I was quite powerful magically, bought me, and set me free. As payment, I am their servant when not being tutored until school starts. That wasn't their condition, I was just so grateful that they kept me from becoming some inbred swine's sex slave." Harry shivered at the thought, and she smiled appreciatively at him. "That's why, while at school, I must make perfect grades or I'll dishonor them. My name is Su Li by the way."

Harry nodded, having finally recognized her, "Oh, I didn't recognize you without the glasses. Plus I don't think that you're very talkative in our classes either..."

She smiled warmly at him but quickly returned to her professional and stoic demeanor when they arrived at another door. "Ah, here we are. The family is soon to have dinner, and you've been invited to dine with them. You can discuss business details over the course of the meal." And with that, she left.

Harry watched her go, his eyes discreetly taking in her form. She was rather petite, but there was something about her that grabbed his attention. It was something that she hadn't had before. Presence. Shaking his head in bewilderment at her, and somewhat enraptured by the slight swivel of her hips as she left, Harry entered the indicated room and sat down at a chair. His future business associate had yet to arrive, so he spent some time looking around the room.

The Chang family seemed to be art enthusiasts, judging from the many paintings and decorative weapons on the walls, not to mention the sculptures and various vases and pots thoughtfully placed around the room. There was a lot of gold and jade artifacts glinting in the paltry yet cozy light of the dining room.

Behind where he sat, where one would expect a wall to be, there was an arch leading outside and letting fresh air enter. There was a beautiful water garden through the door, with cattails, colorful butterflies, vibrant heron, iridescent fish, and numerous lilies. He knew for a fact that it wasn't as sunny outside of the palace as it was in the unexpected garden, so he figured it was charmed to always be pleasant.

When he returned his attention to the room, he realized that the family had silently entered and was waiting for him to notice them. The mother and father were sitting side by side, and Cho herself was also sitting at the table. He realized that every single one of them sat on the side facing him, all expressionless except for Cho who had a small smile on her face when she looked at him. He fought down his surprise and kept it from showing, and gregariously said, "Lovely home you've got here," to nobody in particular.

Mr. Chang began the inquisition, "So, Mr. Potter... what brings you to our humble abode?" At humble abode, Harry felt his lips twitch upward, but he fought them back down. He detected amusement in everybody's eyes and knew they were testing him in some obscure way. He willed himself to remain calm, and was about to reply but, at that moment, the servants entered while carrying in various foods. Harry could smell the cilantro, garlic, onion, basil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, ginger, scallion, white pepper, and sesame oil permeating the room now.

Grinning, Harry said, "I've come for... an alliance of sorts." This got everyone's attentions at the table. "I could use your connections and influence internationally, and you could use mine locally. I know I'm being blunt, but that's just how I am." They were given oolong or ginseng teas depending on which were pointed at. Su Li blushed when he nodded to her in acknowledgement, but nobody seemed to either notice or care except Cho. She narrowed her eyes, but otherwise didn't react.

"Are you asking to become a business partner, or something else?" asked Mr. Chang with slight greed in his eyes. Harry was just about to put some wet noodles in his mouth, but stopped his chopsticks in midair at the question. He tilted his head to the side, wondering if his ruse had already been seen through.

Harry smiled and said, "I'm willing to... elevate you to noble status. As you know, this will result in your family gaining a seat in the Wizengamot. I think it is something that you've coveted for long enough. It's time that you were finally paid your dues. In return, I'd like certain... assurances." He allowed his emerald eyes to twinkle in the way Dumbledore's were famous for, before flashing a shining smile that would make Lockhearte jealous. Whoever said that illusions were useless obviously didn't know what they were talking about.

"What do you mean by assurances? Surely you can't expect to create an alliance from something so vague? I'd be glad to accept your offer if you could only tell me what exactly it is that you want from me," said Mr. Chang, his sharp brown eyes boring into Harry's twinkling green.

Harry's smile grew and he said, "Well, to be honest, I actually have something in mind that is equally important to me as nobility would be for you. I have a certain individual who needs to... disappear. And when I say that, I don't mean that I want them dead or anything as uncouth as that. No, I want this person to become a ghost. Okay, that still sounded like I was conspiring for murder, which I'm not by the way. He needs to be hidden from everybody, especially the Ministry."

Mr. Chang looked speculative and said, "Before I ask you who this individual is, would you care to explain how you'll be giving us nobility?"

Harry sighed. This was going to be the hard part, selling them on the idea. "It is actually rather simple, though I'd prefer you not interrupt me before I'm finished because it won't sound good at first," said Harry as he watched them closely, making sure that they understood. Smiling, he continued, "You are aware that there is very specific criteria that must be fulfilled for your family to join the ranks of the nobility, correct?" They all nodded, so he added,"And you're aware of what those requirements are, right?"

Cho shook her head, and he sighed. Deciding to explain for her benefit, he began, "The only way for a family to join the upper caste of the political system is to swear fealty to a family that has already attained such status. This practice began long ago when the Druids and Romans signed a peace treaty. The upper caste is divided into a hierarchy of sorts, in which the lower tiered families pledge allegiance to the higher tiered families. The Potter family is in the second highest tier. If the Chang family were to swear fealty to the Potter family, they would automatically be added to the third highest tier. This would put your family on the same level as Dumbledore politically."

Cho frowned and said, "So we'd be giving up our freedom of choice to gain political power?"

Shaking his head, Harry explained, "No. The Oath of Fealty is a binding magical contract, which means that it requires consensual agreement between the two parties. It is a more symbiotic relationship between our two families than anything else. We help each other out, basically trading favors for favors. If someone made an enemy of one family, they automatically made an enemy of both families. This is why there are mostly three uniform voting blocs in the Wizengamot; everyone votes for things their allies want."

"So that's why the conservatives, moderates, and liberals have been basically the same families for generations," said Mr. Chang, now that their guest had finished catching up his daughter on the strange political system of their country. "I always just thought the parents were indoctrinating their children or something similar." That was probably also going on, but it was mostly the alliances.

Meanwhile Mrs. Chang scrutinized him and added her two knuts, "And what is to prevent us from simply ignoring you when the time comes? Don't you want something to assure our support in whatever your future endeavor is?" He smiled back. It was obvious to him that she was the brains behind the family, running everything behind her husband's back. And he really liked the way she was shifting the conversation. She was trying to make it seem like a marriage between their families would benefit him more than them. From her perspective, it doesn't. But from his, it does.

Acting confused, he said, "Wouldn't you simply honor the agreement?" Cho seemed to tell that he was simply acting, but everyone else was buying it.

Mr. Chang snorted and said, "This is obviously your first alliance, so let me give you a hint since you seem likable. You need something that would bind us to you, something permanent. Most pureblood families use marriage in this way." Harry smirked on the inside, hoping to hide that they were playing right into his pocket. Mr. Chang's arrogance was immensely helpful, but it would one day be his undoing. For now, Harry was fine playing the newbie. It would make everything that much sweeter when they found out.

Smiling, Harry said, "You want me to marry one of your daughters? I'm open to that." Cho, being the only daughter of the Chang family, was the only possible wife they could offer him. His flippant response got a coy smile and bright blush from Cho, who immediately understood what he was implying, and Mrs. Chang blinked owlishly as her head swiveled back and forth between the two teens. She figured out what their game was finally, though luckily Mr. Chang still didn't know. Her father considered it for about five seconds before he nodded. Harry's internal smirk was a full on Cheshire Cat grin now.

"Alright, we'll need to draw up a marriage contract at Gringotts and get it signed by me, your guardian, Cho, and yourself," said Mr. Chang.

"About my guardian... that's a rather complicated issue. You see, after my parents died they named Sirius Black as my guardian," said Harry, wincing slightly. Everyone in the room, including the servants, held their breath and he continued, "However that didn't exactly work out due to some extenuating circumstances, so I was placed in the custody of Albus Dumbledore, who left me to be raised by my muggle aunt and uncle. However, due to the fact that Sirius was never officially tried, the magic binding him to me never exactly went away, which means that he's still my official guardian."

"That's... an outrage!" said Cho, anger screwing up her angelic face. "How could that possibly... that doesn't even..."

Harry nodded and said, "Yes, it is quite the mess at the moment. However, there's some good news hidden in the mire of my legal issues: Sirius Black is actually innocent. He's not the betraying mass-murderer that everybody thinks he is, though a decade of Azkaban did a number on him. In fact, he's what brought me here today. I want you to help me fake my godfather's death after he's written a new will and emancipated me. Understood?"

"... What." said Mr. Chang.

"... The." said Mrs. Chang.

"... Actual." said Cho Chang.

"... Fuck." said Su Li Chang.

Harry coughed nervously and Mr. Chang blinked. "That was quite the story, and if any of the rumors about your exploits are true I don't doubt that your personal life is a shitstorm of epic proportions. That being said... I think we should do the marriage contract signing in one week's time so that we can get _everything _ready. I look forward to our families being joined together," said Mr. Chang. "Of course, the wedding itself will be several years off..."

"I look forward to our union as well," said Harry with a smile touching his face, "I do as well..." The plan, so far, was going pretty smoothly. "Well, I best be off. I don't want to keep someone important waiting. I'll see you next Friday at 6:00pm sharp to sign the contract. Then we can work on getting you a seat on the Wizengamot."

Harry stood up, winked at Cho, and left the room. Everybody noticed his much greater confidence and simply attributed it to the fact that he gained a new ally.

Nobody but Cho knew that he was that brazen the whole time, just hiding it behind a mask of youthful innocence and acting as if this was his naive first attempt at working his political clout. Only she recognized the subterfuge, yet had no idea what it was that Harry was truly trying to accomplish. She did, however, feel certain that he knew her before ever entering her family compound. And the only reason that she could come up with for his familiarity would be that he followed her from the future, a future that would be completely different because of what just happened.

She knew that this was an enormous point of divergence from the original timeline and that everything would be different now, but it was hard to imagine the exact magnitude of the event. The repercussions of their marriage would likely change everything, perhaps even allowing her family to survive past the rise of the Dark Lord. Yes, it was their fault for joining him, but if they didn't join him... they might just get through the conflicts of tomorrow unscathed now that Harry was protecting them. Of course, they would also attract Voldemort's attention and ire now, but at least they would be prepared for it.

Cho sighed, glad that Harry followed her back and was implementing his own plan, but annoyed that he didn't contact her sooner or try to at least hint at his plan just now. She had a feeling that this was simply a piece of the larger puzzle, and that Harry concocted something on the same scale as Dumbledore's Grand Plan. There was definitely a purpose behind his actions, but she couldn't begin to guess his motives. Harry was back to being what he was in the original timeline, an enigma. But this time, she was going to figure him out before somebody else.

Moving quickly, she entered her room and frowned as she looked in a mirror. A burst of white fire signified that her new companion was making an appearance. Again, like every time before, Cho was entranced by the inherent and resplendent beauty that seemed to emanate from the white phoenix as it coalesced into a solid form. "Solstice," she greeted quietly.

_"It has begun," _was all the ivory avian said before disappearing in another burst of flames.

* * *

**A/N: What a twist?**


	15. Act One: Burrow, Part Three

**Chapter Notes: Decided to combine the old chapter 14 and 15 into what this now is. I took out Fleur's part, because it does absolutely nothing to drive the narrative and unnecessarily bloated the word count. She will still have the same back story, just presented in a more organic way. Plus it'll be much more surprising to those who haven't already read yet.**

* * *

Harry was sitting on the roof of the Burrow, quietly gazing at the beautiful sunset when her head somebody join him. He looked over and saw Hermione sitting down next to him, also watching the colorful sky with a forlorn expression on her face. "So you decided to join me?" he asked with a hint of amusement lingering in his voice. She shrugged, though her faint smile told him that she knew better.

"You mentioned in your letter that you had quite the adventure at the beginning of your summer, but that you wanted to talk about it in person," said Hermione, her eyes closely watching Harry. Her next question was worded carefully, and he managed to pick up on it too. "I also noticed that Ron didn't appear to know anything about this adventure, nor did any of the other Weasleys. I'm curious... did you only tell me about it?" she asked.

He smiled softly and said, "Yes, and its a rather long story to tell. Fortunately we have enough time to talk about it for now. I'll give you a basic rundown of everything that happened on my first day back." She nodded, so he continued, "I had an unexpected visitor that first morning, a black phoenix." She stared at him in disbelief, but considering all that happened to him on a fairly regular basis, she supposed it was possible. Plus he'd yet to lie to her about anything like that before.

"The black phoenix contacted me mentally, and we had a nonverbal conversation. It told me to call it Equinox, before explaining the basic structure of the magical government and its general history. We went to Gringotts where I discovered that I was a heir to several families though all of the accounts were inaccessible to me in some way or another. I also learned that Dumbledore is in control of one of my vaults, and is using the money in it for unknown purposes," said Harry.

Hermione frowned and said, "That doesn't sound like something that Dumbledore would do, but for the sake of the story I won't question anything until you reach the end of your story."

Harry was surprised by how easily she let him continue, but did so without comment, "After that I met a man named Durza who helped me scavenge useful body parts from the body of the basilisk I killed at the end of second year, before going into one of the most convoluted explanations about magical theory that I think I've ever heard." Hermione's eyes shined, but he shook his head and said, "I'll explain about that later. After I left him to do his things, I went to the Forbidden Forest, where I met a bunch of centaurs and learned about advanced mental arts."

Hermione shoved a hand into her mouth to keep from questioning him further, and he chuckled but nodded his head. Quickly she asked, "Could you summarize the magical theory and your experiences with the mental arts?"

"Well, from what I could gather: magic comes from a limitless supply that exists between universes, and it formed all particles in our universe. We collect the raw magic and use it to control our surroundings. I think that's what he meant anyway. As for the mental arts, I just started them but it would it looks like there are a lot of amazing things that you can do with your mind once you're proficient enough. And that's why I want you to learn how to defend your mind as well. I'll tell you more about my 'adventure' but I can't let those details fall into the wrong hands, people who are willing to break into your mind just for some information on me," said Harry.

Hermione looked thoughtful, and said, "Just who would do something like that?" Actually, Harry had a very similar thought repeating itself throughout his mind several times over the past week, and he had legitimate answers despite not having anything to back it up.

Harry appraised her for a moment and said, "Voldemort for one, but also Snape and Dumbledore." When she heard him accusing Snape, her eyes rolled of their own accord because she'd heard that sort of accusation coming from both Harry and Ron since day one. "It does make sense though. I mean, think about it. How many times has Snape seemingly known everything that happened around us without any possible way of knowing?"

She shook her head at the futility of his baseless speculation and decided to get back on point. "How do you know Snape is even capable of that, and whether Dumbledore is willing to do so or not?" she asked, wondering if there really was something behind Harry making such an accusation. Harry wasn't the kind of person to point the finger of blame on someone else, unless he was relatively sure that the person he was redirecting it towards actually deserved such blame. However, he had been wrong on that front in several cases over the years, chiefly in their first year against Snape. The thought almost made her roll her eyes again.

"I don't have any proof yet, just a hunch," admitted Harry with a somewhat meek tone to his voice. If the situation weren't so serious she'd even be amused by his relatively swift change in mannerisms, but that wasn't the case at the moment. Besides, commenting on other people's idiosyncrasies made her lose friends in the past and she was rather fond of the one next to her. Frowning thoughtfully, he added, "However I won't tell you anymore until you get a decent mental defense set up."

"I guess that makes sense," she said carefully, noting how he immediately seemed to know that she wasn't quite turned to his side on the matter yet. He wasn't acting like he used to, but the changes were so slight that she'd almost miss them if she weren't so captivated with his every action. Sometimes having an unrequited crush could be difficult, but it allowed her to notice certain things about him that nobody else would. "-but I still think you should trust Dumbledore," she finished with a small smirk, after the brief dramatic pause that included her spontaneous introspection.

"Hermione, he's stealing from my ancestral vaults for gods know what," said Harry, sounding quite irate if her past experiences reading him were anything to go by. Of course, reading Harry's emotions could be a gimmicky hobby in and of itself, since his treatment by the Dursley family stunted his emotional and social growth by quite a bit. He was recovering from the abuse and neglect of his childhood but it was a slow endeavor, something that would probably haunt him for a long time to come.

"I'm not saying that it's okay or anything like that, I'm just saying that it seems a little odd. Dumbledore has accomplished a lot in his life, and likely has an enormous fortune, so why would he bother with stealing from you? It just doesn't make any sense," said Hermione, wondering whether the logic of her rhetoric was enough to make Harry see how delusional it all seemed. But she'd never admit to him that it seemed farcifal, if only because he was her closest, and likely only, friend. She'd heard Ron's comments over the course of their first year, and several more since then that weren't for Harry to hear. However she made peace with that and hadn't said anything about it to Harry. Yet.

Though Ron being recently, if somewhat covertly, ostracized from the group gave her hope for the future of her friendship with Harry and sanity in general. Then, maybe if she played her cards right, she could become more than friends with the boy that had captured her heart right before fighting off Quirrell. "Granted, your argument makes sense, but he also knew about Sirius's innocence and my treatment at the Dursley home," said Harry, trying to prove his point that the old man was trying to ruin his life.

"Do you have any evidence to back up those claims?" asked Hermione with a slight smirk. Sometimes it was fun to get into verbal debates with people, especially people that could actually keep up with her intellectually. Over the years she noticed that Harry was quite a bit smarter than he acted, though whether he knew it or not was still up in the air. It was almost as if something were keeping him from truly flourishing, more than just a horrible childhood. And somehow, someway, if seemed that whatever was keeping him average had finally relinquished its hold on him.

"Not yet, but I will eventually," he said, a similar smirk appearing on his own face. She got the impression that he was playing with her in some unusual fashion but she couldn't find anything to get mad over. Maybe she found somebody willing to verbally thrash her. It had been a long time since she'd received a tongue lashing from anybody, though she'd begun to crave it as some form of break from the monotony of her life. And now a rather attractive guy seemed to be willing to do just that, and maybe use his tongue for other things with her?

"Alright, I'll help you." Those words came out of her mouth without conscious thought, probably brought on by her hormonal urges to kiss him. She just wanted to grab him and force her lips on his, but that would have been out of character and probably scare him off in the process. No, she needed some way to decipher her feelings on the matter, or possibly to even create feelings on the matter if necessary or even an available option.

"You will?" he asked with a tilted head, as if he couldn't quite believe his ears. And he honestly couldn't, seeing that she was firmly arguing against his point less than a few minutes ago. He noticed that her face was blushing far more than normal, and he somehow picked out that the pupils of her eyes were dilating quite a bit as they continued to sit together in the rapidly retreating sunlight, discussing such things.

"Yes, but more because I want to prove your claims wrong than anything else. I have a hunch of my own, that your hunch is wrong," said Hermione with a small quirk to the corners of her mouth. It was a cute smile, Harry admitted, something that he doubted any other guy in their age group had noticed yet. However, he was noticing it. But the observation was detatched from him. He noticed that she looked quite beautiful, but that was all it was: an observation. He felt nothing for her other than friendship, which would likely break her heart when she finally found out.

"Oh really? And what could I do to make you change your mind?" he asked distractedly, not realizing that he was inadvertantly flirting with a girl that he felt nothing for, a girl who seemed to feel intense affection for him, given how quickly her pupils grew. He shook his head to snap himself out of the conversation's rather inevitable path, hoping to delay the eventual revelation for as long as possible. "We'd better go in before we catch a cold," he said with a small smile, which she returned uncertainly.

She knew that magical people didn't catch things as mundane as a common cold. She also knew that Harry knew this. She didn't know why Harry would mention it in such a way, unless it was either a joke or a way to get away from her. But why would he want to get away from her? Did he know that she liked him and not feel the same? Did he not know that she liked him and he unknowingly liked her back but was too shy to admit it? Did he-

But her internal rant was stopped abruptly when Harry's head snapped in the direction of a small bush on the border of the Weasley family's property, just past the border containing a magical barrier. She followed his line of sight and saw a large shadow rapidly move from one bush to another, a distinctive tail wagging back and forth at having been noticed. They were staring at a large black dog with a wiry coat, a grim.

"Sirius?" she whispered uncertainly, wondering how the convict found them there.

Harry, grinning, jumped off the roof and landed somehow neatly before jogging up to the barrier. "Hey Padfoot," he whispered happily, "Just the good boy I wanted to see."

The black dog's tail wagged rapidly before it transformed into Harry's godfather Sirius. "Harry, Hermione, it's good to see you," he whispered happily. "Though I'm surprised you noticed me so quickly. I guess I wasn't stealthy enough," he muttered to himself.

Harry laughed and shook his head, "No, silly. We were just hanging out on the roof and happened to notice you."

"What were you two doing on the roof, alone?" asked Sirius, his eyebrows raised suggestively as he looked between Harry and Hermione. Harry noticed Hermione's face turning the same color as a Weasley's hair and decided to have some fun with her. Plus he knew Sirius would go along with it if only to irritate the adorable brunette even further.

"A little bit of this and a little bit of that," said Harry evasively, his eyes downcast and a fake blush across his face. Being able to blush at will was one of the few things he could do with his own metamorphmagus abilities, being as limited as they were. This display made Sirius give a genuine smile, and Hermione nearly pinched herself, before they saw the telltale twinkling in Harry's emerald eyes.

"Prat!" said both Hermione and Sirius at the same time, both giving him a swat on the arm. Then they both looked at each other and simltaneously said, "Jinx, you owe me a butterbeer/soda." Then they stared at each other for a few seconds and said, "Double jinx!" Then, "Triple jinx!" Then Harry tapped them both and made a hushing motion with his finger. They hadn't realized how loud they were being, and he had to remind them.

"So anyway, is there a reason you're here? Not that I'm not happy about you being here or anything, it just seems a little out of the blue, you know?" said Harry, his head tilted to the side in honest curiosity. While it was unexpected, it was actually quite helpful since his plan actually used Sirius in the first place. The fact that the man appeared before him of his own accord shortly after starting up a scheme in the first place was in and of itself a strange coincidental circumstance, but Harry was going to look a gift unicorn in the mouth.

"I just got the strangest feeling that you'd need me soon, that's all," said Sirius. "Call it the instincts of my animagus form, but something told me that sometime soon you'd be needing me for something more than paternal support. I've actually never felt an instinctual need like that before, but I know enough about animagi that it doesn't seem entirely implausible."

Smiling, Harry said, "Well actually, I do need you right now." If Sirius were in his Padfoot form, Harry was sure that his ears would've perked up at those words. However, even while in human form he still gave the impression off. Harry made a mental note to ask his godfather more in-depth questions about the concept of animagi, but felt that it wasn't relevant to the current situation and would detract from the conversational direction that he wanted it to go.

"Really? What for?" asked Sirius. Excitement shown in the man's eyes. After over a decade of constantly being in the presence of dementors, Harry initially, albeit subconsciously, suspected that Sirius would likely never recover from the psychological trauma of the ordeal. When taken into consideration the fact that his godfather was magically stronger than most, and capable of escaping the clutches of the dementors, however temporary the respite may be, it was only logical that the man wouldn't be completely lost. Even now he wondered how much better his father's best friend was,after just a few months of being a wanted fugitive.

Deciding to come at his uncle from a relatively safe angle, Harry supposed, "Well, I've been thinking... you're never going to get a fair trial in England, right?" The look in Sirius's eyes showed that he earned a point with that inference, but it was really based on actual observations, so such an empirical implication seemed natural to the more logically inclined teen. Harry smiled triumphantly when Sirius acknowledged the statement with a simple, sharp nod.

His smile turned somewhat amused, however, when Hermione decided to speak her mind. "Not necessarily," she said, trying to defend the sanctity of the ones in charge of the Ministry. "Those in authority may realize that it was the previous cabinet's misbegotten sense of justice that placed you unfairly in such an impetuous location, rather than any guilt on your part. They may even give you monetary compensation if you explain your case clearly and concisely."

Deciding to drop in a joke so as to alleviate the suspense, Harry commented, "Ignore this one, she's a bit on the innocent side."

"Am not," she argued back in a huff.

"Are too," was his eloquent rebuttal.

"Guys, can we get back on track here?" asked Sirius, though he seemed even more amused by the distraction that Harry, which was the original intention from the very beginning. People say that laughter is the best medicine, and Harry was going to try his damnedest to help his godfather get back to his former joking self.

"Yeah, so anyways my plan was to essentially fake your death," said Harry, hoping that they would catch on to the significance of such an action quickly so that he wouldn't really have to explain himself unduly.

"...What?" asked Hermione, her voice disbelieving that he'd come up with anything so illegal on his own.

"Don't look at me like that," said Harry. "It's the only viable option in our current situation. Sirius, tell her." But Sirius seemed just as confused, if not somewhat angry, at the option being given to him.

"Why do I need to fake my own death, Harry," said Sirius quietly, his eyes boring into Harry's like drills. Names were everything in the wizarding world, denoting everything from social and economic status to magical ability and intellectual achievements. To fake his death would be to relinquish his name, and any and all honor that went along with it. However, the alternative at the moment appeared to be having his soul severed from his body and gorged upon by the hellish guardians of Azkaban.

"Well, you'd essentially be free to move about however you want," said Harry, trying to justify such a rash action. His hands were held above him in the universal sign for 'I surrender' in a placating manner. Hopefully he didn't alienate the closest thing to a family that he had with stupidly worded arguments.

"People know his face, Harry. We can't exactly hide it," said Hermione, her logical argument cutting through the rapidly chilling atmosphere hanging over the conversation. "He's nearly as famous as you at this point, Harry. And I doubt he'd like living the rest of his life in his animagus form, no offense, Sirius," she apologized curtly, her sharp eyes never leaving Harry's impassive face.

"None taken," said Sirius, whose eyes also stuck to Harry like glue. "She's right, you know. We could use human transfiguration or polyjuice potion but neither of those are permanent. We could attempt a human transmutation but that's incredibly dark alchemy that could potentially turn me into a humonculi. I really don't see how we'll be able to work with this," he said, somewhat sadly. While giving up one's name was taboo, having one's soul ripped out seemed far less pleasant of the two possibilities.

"You've gotta start thinking more outside the box," Harry muttered, wondering why Sirius hadn't thought of it before. His family was famous for a bloodline ability that allowed oneself to disguise themselves as anybody whether they were alive, dead, or imaginary. The fact that Sirius hadn't even thought of it didn't bode too well for the plan, putting a sinking feeling in Harry's stomach.

"What do you mean?" asked Sirius, not quite sure what point Harry was trying to make.

Harry sighed and answered the question with something similar to exasperation filling his voice as he spoke, "The Black Family Crest will unlock your latent metamorphmagus abilities, we just need to find out where it is." He noticed Sirius cringe at the suggestion, and wondered exactly what had happened between the man and his family, for him to make such a facial expression at the tiniest of reminders of his past.

"I know where it is, though I really don't want to go back to Number Twelve, Grimmuald Place," he said dejectedly, as if he were on his way to the gallows. Or worse, to the dementors.

"Why do you not want to go there?" asked Harry, wanting to know just what about the place could bring about such an abrupt personality shift in one of his closest people. The answer he got wasn't too surprising given the clues, but Harry still had a hard time believing that something like that could still affect Siriu even to that day.

"My childhood in that house was rather abysmal. I was forced to learn pureblood politics and endure dark magic on a daily basis, though I never did have to do as many chores as you've implied the Dursley family has made you do. Still, it was a pretty shitty upbringing, and I just can't stand the place any longer. I still remember the last fight I had with my mother, right before I ran away from that snake pit and moved in with your father, James, at Potter Manor."

"There's a Potter Manor?" asked Harry.

"Not anymore, but there was," said Sirius. Upon seeing Harry's confused expression, the fugitive explicated, "It burned down at the height of Voldemort's Reign of Darkness, along with the Longbottom, Prewit, and Bones family manors. All their Family Crests were stolen and hidden away by the Dark Lord's followers, still lost to the world at large. That's where the Potter Family Crest is at the moment, somewhere nobody will ever accidentally stumble upon it."

So Dumbledore didn't steal his Family Crest. Voldemort did, before disappearing off the face of the Earth. That was a much better situation...

"So are you in?" asked Harry. Hermione nodded instantly, even if the question wasn't really directed towards her. Sirius, for his part, appeared to be contemplating his next course of action.

Finally he looked up and asked, "And what do I get out of this if I go along with it?"

Nodding, Hary said, "Like I already mentioned, the ability to move about freely. I could also give you back all of your family's stuff, it's not really all that important to me." Those words seemed to be the right ones, because Sirius nodded right along with him, giving his consent to continue with the operation, as it were.

"Alright, say I do go through with this. What do you get out of this?" he asked testily, wondering if his godson had some ulterior motive to lending him a helping hand. Of course, considering neither James or Lily were the kind of people that used their friends like tools, he didn't expect to get an answer other than a possible cheeky reply containing a joke. What he got shocked him beyond words.

Harry tilted his head to gather his thoughts and said, "Emancipation, a bounty, some infamy and respect, contacts with powerful people, and my godfather to actually be around me." Saving the fact that he actually wanted to be around his godfather for last was a calculated move on Harry's part, to further the feelings of fatherly or brotherly affection that was being fostered between them during their bonding time. Said bonding time involved planning to break numerous laws, but that was beside the point.

"This is starting to actually sound like a good idea all around," said Sirius. "I'm in." Harry let out a breath of relief and smiled winningly.

Hermione wouldn't be left out of the action, however, and said, "Me too," which just made the two males chuckle at her insistence to be included. She was probably one of the most determined people Harry had ever met, and one of the most loyal friends he could have ever asked for. Her unrequited feelings of attraction towards him were admittedly a little uncomfortable, but maybe she would grow out of her crush in time. Or maybe he would grow into it. You never could tell which way the wind would blow in regards to relationships around Harry.

"Excellent. We just have to go to Number Twelve, Gimmuald Place," said Harry.

"Can't wait," said Sirius sarcastically.  
_

Dumbledore was sitting in his office, going over his accursed paperwork. The sun was setting, but he didn't have enough time to look at the beautiful landscape out his window. He was currently juggling several important jobs: being the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, being the Chief Warlock of the Upper House of the Wizengamot, being the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and being the de facto leader of the vigilante group known as the Order of the Phoenix.

Currently, he was filling out some forms to add a new student to the school. Tonks, being a metamorphmagus, would be the perfect undercover bodyguard for Harry while in school. She could act like a foreign exchange student, somehow worm her way into Harry's small circle of friends, and then the trouble attracting boy would have someone with the skills of a junior auror around him at all times. While there needed to be some danger to test the boy's ability to cope with pressure, she would be perfectly capable of alleviating that stress if necessary.

There was a knock on the oaken door of his office, greatly surprising the Headmaster since he didn't even sense someone's presence until they made themselves known. There were only about a dozen or so people in the entire world that could boast being able to escape his notice, none of which he was on very good terms with. Having a fairly good idea of who this person was and what they wanted, Dumbledore sighed at the clock before intoning, "Enter."

The door opened and a man entered the room, a man who appeared to be in his early forties but was far older. "Dumbledore, my wayward disciple," said the man, a twinkle in his eyes. It was, in fact, the twinkle that Dumbledore tried and failed miserably to imitate. Oh, his was good enough to catch the attention of most witches and wizards, but the one before him could ensnare the mind of any mage rather effortlessly.

Mildly humbled by the other man's somewhat unexpected visit, Dumbledore said warily, "Hello Mr. Flamel. To what do I owe this pleasure?" He tried to downplay his past relationship as an apprentice to the man before him by appearing cordial yet professional, but the man only seemed amused by Dumbledore's antics.

Deciding to get right to business, the other man said, "As the liaison between the Mages' Association and the International Confederation of Wizards, it is my duty to inform you, for some reason in person, that the Triwizard Tournament to be held in this school later this year will be frowned upon severely by my esteemed colleagues and I. Maybe if the three schools involved taught magecraft rather than witchcraft and wizardry..." That was a low blow.

Magecraft is the ability to reproduce what can be scientifically realized regardless of time and funds. The limits of magecraft have changed with time, as science evolved and sorceries from before became technically possible through science. However, modern magecraft remains far inferior from that of the past.

"I assure you that the candidates selected for participation in the tournament by the Educational Triumvirate of Magical Europe will be seventeen years of age and considered to be adults. They will only be chosen if they volunteer-" said Dumbledore, but Flamel waved his protestations away as if they were mere insects.

"Let's cut to the chase, shall we?" said Flamel, a condescending smile on his deceptively youthful face. "Magical Britain is a relatively isolated magical government, somehow keeping a traditional feudalistic form of government several centuries after the muggles left the medieval era behind them," he spoke, snide derision coloring his voice. "Antiquated notions of blood purity somehow being responsible for 'magical' ability have been plaguing the upper echelons of your woefully imbalanced socioeconomic castes."

"How exactly does you slandering Britain have anything to do with the Triwizard Tournament?" asked Dumbledore with gritted teeth. Dumbledore saw no way to really combat the inequality, bigotry, and oppression that was heavily present in the country he loved. At least, not yet anyway. If he tried, he'd be ostracized from the political positions that it took him almost a century to gain, and he'd likely be ridiculed by Ministry propaganda. An entire lifetime of work could be undone in the blink of an eye in such a backwards country, and he was slowly consolidating his power to bring about some kind of change in the general populous.

"Well... we don't think it wise to have such a politically significant event being housed in such a... _place _as Britain. It's just that there are other options available, and we feel that having it at either Beauxbatons or Durmstrang instead of Hogwarts would be a much better choice," said Flamel silkily.

"This has nothing to do with the Tournament, does it?" asked Dumbledore hotly. There were only a few people in the world that could upset him enough to lose his composure. Incidentally that list and the group of people capable of sneaking up on him were remarkably similar, if not congruent. "You're just mad because I accidentally lost the Stone, and now you're trying to make my life difficult as some form of compensation, right?"

"You do realize that you condemned me to death with your failed trap for a _dead_dark _wizard_? I have maybe a decade left before I start aging, and then another six decades before I die." The statement was muttered with a surprising amount of vitriol for somebody who'd already lived several lifetimes.

Blinking in annoyance, Dumbledore uttered, "Death is but the next Great Adventure." He honestly couldn't believe that Flamel would have the audacity to even imply that rejecting death in the natural order was something to be celebrated, not shunned. It was unnatural, coming very close to what Dumbledore considered dark.

"That is complete bullshit and you know it. You destroyed a priceless artifact, the greatest achievement of my life, and you expect me to agree with your decisions? You can die if you want, but this is a personal choice if given the option to cheat death, and you took that away from me. There's no way to recreate the stone... However, my personal feeling have nothing to do with this situation. This is the consensus of the higher-ups in the Mage's Association. If you don't like it, that just sucks for you," said Flamel.

On the international level, Dumbledore was trying hard to keep the Mage's Association and Holy Church from getting a proper foothold in Britain, France, and Germany but was slowly failing over time. "Do you expect me to give into the demands of the Association so easily? Do not forget that I defeated Grindelwald, who's still considered the strongest sorcerer to ever exist. I am more than capable of defending my home from greedy foreigners." Of course, historically the British were some of the most imperialistic people to ever walk the Earth, but Flamel didn't feel like pointing that out to his old apprentice.

"You do realize that going against the Association is political suicide, even for someone as illustrious as yourself?" asked Flamel. This was likely how the Association was planning on exerting some influence over the British Isles. Flamel grinned evilly and said, "They are willing to make a concession that would allow you to appease them while continuing the Tournament, if you're interested." Dumbledore was, despite his previous bluff, and watching intently, looking for any signs of deception. When he saw none, he nodded slowly for his old acquaintance to continue. "Allow one of our representatives to stay in the castle during the Tournament."

"And who exactly do you have in mind?" asked Dumbledore in annoyance. Flamel's answering grin would give Dumbledore insomnia for the rest of the week.


	16. Act One: Burrow, Part Four

Harry was sitting on the roof of the Burrow, quietly gazing at the beautiful sunset when her head somebody join him. He looked over and saw Hermione sitting down next to him, also watching the colorful sky with a forlorn expression on her face. "So you decided to join me?" he asked with a hint of amusement lingering in his voice. She shrugged, though her faint smile told him that she knew better.

"You mentioned in your letter that you had quite the adventure at the beginning of your summer, but that you wanted to talk about it in person," said Hermione, her eyes closely watching Harry. Her next question was worded carefully, and he managed to pick up on it too. "I also noticed that Ron didn't appear to know anything about this adventure, nor did any of the other Weasleys. I'm curious... did you only tell me about it?" she asked.

He smiled softly and said, "Yes, and its a rather long story to tell. Fortunately we have enough time to talk about it for now. I'll give you a basic rundown of everything that happened on my first day back." She nodded, so he continued, "I had an unexpected visitor that first morning, a black phoenix." She stared at him in disbelief, but considering all that happened to him on a fairly regular basis, she supposed it was possible. Plus he'd yet to lie to her about anything like that before.

"The black phoenix contacted me mentally, and we had a nonverbal conversation. It told me to call it Equinox, before explaining the basic structure of the magical government and its general history. We went to Gringotts where I discovered that I was a heir to several families though all of the accounts were inaccessible to me in some way or another. I also learned that Dumbledore is in control of one of my vaults, and is using the money in it for unknown purposes," said Harry.

Hermione frowned and said, "That doesn't sound like something that Dumbledore would do, but for the sake of the story I won't question anything until you reach the end of your story."

Harry was surprised by how easily she let him continue, but did so without comment, "After that I met a man named Durza who helped me scavenge useful body parts from the body of the basilisk I killed at the end of second year, before going into one of the most convoluted explanations about magical theory that I think I've ever heard." Hermione's eyes shined, but he shook his head and said, "I'll explain about that later. After I left him to do his things, I went to the Forbidden Forest, where I met a bunch of centaurs and learned about advanced mental arts."

Hermione shoved a hand into her mouth to keep from questioning him further, and he chuckled but nodded his head. Quickly she asked, "Could you summarize the magical theory and your experiences with the mental arts?"

"Well, from what I could gather: magic comes from a limitless supply that exists between universes, and it formed all particles in our universe. We collect the raw magic and use it to control our surroundings. I think that's what he meant anyway. As for the mental arts, I just started them but it would it looks like there are a lot of amazing things that you can do with your mind once you're proficient enough. And that's why I want you to learn how to defend your mind as well. I'll tell you more about my 'adventure' but I can't let those details fall into the wrong hands, people who are willing to break into your mind just for some information on me," said Harry.

Hermione looked thoughtful, and said, "Just who would do something like that?" Actually, Harry had a very similar thought repeating itself throughout his mind several times over the past week, and he had legitimate answers despite not having anything to back it up.

Harry appraised her for a moment and said, "Voldemort for one, but also Snape and Dumbledore." When she heard him accusing Snape, her eyes rolled of their own accord because she'd heard that sort of accusation coming from both Harry and Ron since day one. "It does make sense though. I mean, think about it. How many times has Snape seemingly known everything that happened around us without any possible way of knowing?"

She shook her head at the futility of his baseless speculation and decided to get back on point. "How do you know Snape is even capable of that, and whether Dumbledore is willing to do so or not?" she asked, wondering if there really was something behind Harry making such an accusation. Harry wasn't the kind of person to point the finger of blame on someone else, unless he was relatively sure that the person he was redirecting it towards actually deserved such blame. However, he had been wrong on that front in several cases over the years, chiefly in their first year against Snape. The thought almost made her roll her eyes again.

"I don't have any proof yet, just a hunch," admitted Harry with a somewhat meek tone to his voice. If the situation weren't so serious she'd even be amused by his relatively swift change in mannerisms, but that wasn't the case at the moment. Besides, commenting on other people's idiosyncrasies made her lose friends in the past and she was rather fond of the one next to her. Frowning thoughtfully, he added, "However I won't tell you anymore until you get a decent mental defense set up."

"I guess that makes sense," she said carefully, noting how he immediately seemed to know that she wasn't quite turned to his side on the matter yet. He wasn't acting like he used to, but the changes were so slight that she'd almost miss them if she weren't so captivated with his every action. Sometimes having an unrequited crush could be difficult, but it allowed her to notice certain things about him that nobody else would. "-but I still think you should trust Dumbledore," she finished with a small smirk, after the brief dramatic pause that included her spontaneous introspection.

"Hermione, he's stealing from my ancestral vaults for gods know what," said Harry, sounding quite irate if her past experiences reading him were anything to go by. Of course, reading Harry's emotions could be a gimmicky hobby in and of itself, since his treatment by the Dursley family stunted his emotional and social growth by quite a bit. He was recovering from the abuse and neglect of his childhood but it was a slow endeavor, something that would probably haunt him for a long time to come.

"I'm not saying that it's okay or anything like that, I'm just saying that it seems a little odd. Dumbledore has accomplished a lot in his life, and likely has an enormous fortune, so why would he bother with stealing from you? It just doesn't make any sense," said Hermione, wondering whether the logic of her rhetoric was enough to make Harry see how delusional it all seemed. But she'd never admit to him that it seemed farcifal, if only because he was her closest, and likely only, friend. She'd heard Ron's comments over the course of their first year, and several more since then that weren't for Harry to hear. However she made peace with that and hadn't said anything about it to Harry. Yet.

Though Ron being recently, if somewhat covertly, ostracized from the group gave her hope for the future of her friendship with Harry and sanity in general. Then, maybe if she played her cards right, she could become more than friends with the boy that had captured her heart right before fighting off Quirrell. "Granted, your argument makes sense, but he also knew about Sirius's innocence and my treatment at the Dursley home," said Harry, trying to prove his point that the old man was trying to ruin his life.

"Do you have any evidence to back up those claims?" asked Hermione with a slight smirk. Sometimes it was fun to get into verbal debates with people, especially people that could actually keep up with her intellectually. Over the years she noticed that Harry was quite a bit smarter than he acted, though whether he knew it or not was still up in the air. It was almost as if something were keeping him from truly flourishing, more than just a horrible childhood. And somehow, someway, if seemed that whatever was keeping him average had finally relinquished its hold on him.

"Not yet, but I will eventually," he said, a similar smirk appearing on his own face. She got the impression that he was playing with her in some unusual fashion but she couldn't find anything to get mad over. Maybe she found somebody willing to verbally thrash her. It had been a long time since she'd received a tongue lashing from anybody, though she'd begun to crave it as some form of break from the monotony of her life. And now a rather attractive guy seemed to be willing to do just that, and maybe use his tongue for other things with her?

"Alright, I'll help you." Those words came out of her mouth without conscious thought, probably brought on by her hormonal urges to kiss him. She just wanted to grab him and force her lips on his, but that would have been out of character and probably scare him off in the process. No, she needed some way to decipher her feelings on the matter, or possibly to even create feelings on the matter if necessary or even an available option.

"You will?" he asked with a tilted head, as if he couldn't quite believe his ears. And he honestly couldn't, seeing that she was firmly arguing against his point less than a few minutes ago. He noticed that her face was blushing far more than normal, and he somehow picked out that the pupils of her eyes were dilating quite a bit as they continued to sit together in the rapidly retreating sunlight, discussing such things.

"Yes, but more because I want to prove your claims wrong than anything else. I have a hunch of my own, that your hunch is wrong," said Hermione with a small quirk to the corners of her mouth. It was a cute smile, Harry admitted, something that he doubted any other guy in their age group had noticed yet. However, he was noticing it. But the observation was detatched from him. He noticed that she looked quite beautiful, but that was all it was: an observation. He felt nothing for her other than friendship, which would likely break her heart when she finally found out.

"Oh really? And what could I do to make you change your mind?" he asked distractedly, not realizing that he was inadvertantly flirting with a girl that he felt nothing for, a girl who seemed to feel intense affection for him, given how quickly her pupils grew. He shook his head to snap himself out of the conversation's rather inevitable path, hoping to delay the eventual revelation for as long as possible. "We'd better go in before we catch a cold," he said with a small smile, which she returned uncertainly.

She knew that magical people didn't catch things as mundane as a common cold. She also knew that Harry knew this. She didn't know why Harry would mention it in such a way, unless it was either a joke or a way to get away from her. But why would he want to get away from her? Did he know that she liked him and not feel the same? Did he not know that she liked him and he unknowingly liked her back but was too shy to admit it? Did he-

But her internal rant was stopped abruptly when Harry's head snapped in the direction of a small bush on the border of the Weasley family's property, just past the border containing a magical barrier. She followed his line of sight and saw a large shadow rapidly move from one bush to another, a distinctive tail wagging back and forth at having been noticed. They were staring at a large black dog with a wiry coat, a grim.

"Sirius?" she whispered uncertainly, wondering how the convict found them there.

Harry, grinning, jumped off the roof and landed somehow neatly before jogging up to the barrier. "Hey Padfoot," he whispered happily, "Just the good boy I wanted to see."

The black dog's tail wagged rapidly before it transformed into Harry's godfather Sirius. "Harry, Hermione, it's good to see you," he whispered happily. "Though I'm surprised you noticed me so quickly. I guess I wasn't stealthy enough," he muttered to himself.

Harry laughed and shook his head, "No, silly. We were just hanging out on the roof and happened to notice you."

"What were you two doing on the roof, alone?" asked Sirius, his eyebrows raised suggestively as he looked between Harry and Hermione. Harry noticed Hermione's face turning the same color as a Weasley's hair and decided to have some fun with her. Plus he knew Sirius would go along with it if only to irritate the adorable brunette even further.

"A little bit of this and a little bit of that," said Harry evasively, his eyes downcast and a fake blush across his face. Being able to blush at will was one of the few things he could do with his own metamorphmagus abilities, being as limited as they were. This display made Sirius give a genuine smile, and Hermione nearly pinched herself, before they saw the telltale twinkling in Harry's emerald eyes.

"Prat!" said both Hermione and Sirius at the same time, both giving him a swat on the arm. Then they both looked at each other and simltaneously said, "Jinx, you owe me a butterbeer/soda." Then they stared at each other for a few seconds and said, "Double jinx!" Then, "Triple jinx!" Then Harry tapped them both and made a hushing motion with his finger. They hadn't realized how loud they were being, and he had to remind them.

"So anyway, is there a reason you're here? Not that I'm not happy about you being here or anything, it just seems a little out of the blue, you know?" said Harry, his head tilted to the side in honest curiosity. While it was unexpected, it was actually quite helpful since his plan actually used Sirius in the first place. The fact that the man appeared before him of his own accord shortly after starting up a scheme in the first place was in and of itself a strange coincidental circumstance, but Harry was going to look a gift unicorn in the mouth.

"I just got the strangest feeling that you'd need me soon, that's all," said Sirius. "Call it the instincts of my animagus form, but something told me that sometime soon you'd be needing me for something more than paternal support. I've actually never felt an instinctual need like that before, but I know enough about animagi that it doesn't seem entirely implausible."

Smiling, Harry said, "Well actually, I do need you right now." If Sirius were in his Padfoot form, Harry was sure that his ears would've perked up at those words. However, even while in human form he still gave the impression off. Harry made a mental note to ask his godfather more in-depth questions about the concept of animagi, but felt that it wasn't relevant to the current situation and would detract from the conversational direction that he wanted it to go.

"Really? What for?" asked Sirius. Excitement shown in the man's eyes. After over a decade of constantly being in the presence of dementors, Harry initially, albeit subconsciously, suspected that Sirius would likely never recover from the psychological trauma of the ordeal. When taken into consideration the fact that his godfather was magically stronger than most, and capable of escaping the clutches of the dementors, however temporary the respite may be, it was only logical that the man wouldn't be completely lost. Even now he wondered how much better his father's best friend was,after just a few months of being a wanted fugitive.

Deciding to come at his uncle from a relatively safe angle, Harry supposed, "Well, I've been thinking... you're never going to get a fair trial in England, right?" The look in Sirius's eyes showed that he earned a point with that inference, but it was really based on actual observations, so such an empirical implication seemed natural to the more logically inclined teen. Harry smiled triumphantly when Sirius acknowledged the statement with a simple, sharp nod.

His smile turned somewhat amused, however, when Hermione decided to speak her mind. "Not necessarily," she said, trying to defend the sanctity of the ones in charge of the Ministry. "Those in authority may realize that it was the previous cabinet's misbegotten sense of justice that placed you unfairly in such an impetuous location, rather than any guilt on your part. They may even give you monetary compensation if you explain your case clearly and concisely."

Deciding to drop in a joke so as to alleviate the suspense, Harry commented, "Ignore this one, she's a bit on the innocent side."

"Am not," she argued back in a huff.

"Are too," was his eloquent rebuttal.

"Guys, can we get back on track here?" asked Sirius, though he seemed even more amused by the distraction that Harry, which was the original intention from the very beginning. People say that laughter is the best medicine, and Harry was going to try his damnedest to help his godfather get back to his former joking self.

"Yeah, so anyways my plan was to essentially fake your death," said Harry, hoping that they would catch on to the significance of such an action quickly so that he wouldn't really have to explain himself unduly.

"...What?" asked Hermione, her voice disbelieving that he'd come up with anything so illegal on his own.

"Don't look at me like that," said Harry. "It's the only viable option in our current situation. Sirius, tell her." But Sirius seemed just as confused, if not somewhat angry, at the option being given to him.

"Why do I need to fake my own death, Harry," said Sirius quietly, his eyes boring into Harry's like drills. Names were everything in the wizarding world, denoting everything from social and economic status to magical ability and intellectual achievements. To fake his death would be to relinquish his name, and any and all honor that went along with it. However, the alternative at the moment appeared to be having his soul severed from his body and gorged upon by the hellish guardians of Azkaban.

"Well, you'd essentially be free to move about however you want," said Harry, trying to justify such a rash action. His hands were held above him in the universal sign for 'I surrender' in a placating manner. Hopefully he didn't alienate the closest thing to a family that he had with stupidly worded arguments.

"People know his face, Harry. We can't exactly hide it," said Hermione, her logical argument cutting through the rapidly chilling atmosphere hanging over the conversation. "He's nearly as famous as you at this point, Harry. And I doubt he'd like living the rest of his life in his animagus form, no offense, Sirius," she apologized curtly, her sharp eyes never leaving Harry's impassive face.

"None taken," said Sirius, whose eyes also stuck to Harry like glue. "She's right, you know. We could use human transfiguration or polyjuice potion but neither of those are permanent. We could attempt a human transmutation but that's incredibly dark alchemy that could potentially turn me into a humonculi. I really don't see how we'll be able to work with this," he said, somewhat sadly. While giving up one's name was taboo, having one's soul ripped out seemed far less pleasant of the two possibilities.

"You've gotta start thinking more outside the box," Harry muttered, wondering why Sirius hadn't thought of it before. His family was famous for a bloodline ability that allowed oneself to disguise themselves as anybody whether they were alive, dead, or imaginary. The fact that Sirius hadn't even thought of it didn't bode too well for the plan, putting a sinking feeling in Harry's stomach.

"What do you mean?" asked Sirius, not quite sure what point Harry was trying to make.

Harry sighed and answered the question with something similar to exasperation filling his voice as he spoke, "The Black Family Crest will unlock your latent metamorphmagus abilities, we just need to find out where it is." He noticed Sirius cringe at the suggestion, and wondered exactly what had happened between the man and his family, for him to make such a facial expression at the tiniest of reminders of his past.

"I know where it is, though I really don't want to go back to Number Twelve, Grimmuald Place," he said dejectedly, as if he were on his way to the gallows. Or worse, to the dementors.

"Why do you not want to go there?" asked Harry, wanting to know just what about the place could bring about such an abrupt personality shift in one of his closest people. The answer he got wasn't too surprising given the clues, but Harry still had a hard time believing that something like that could still affect Siriu even to that day.

"My childhood in that house was rather abysmal. I was forced to learn pureblood politics and endure dark magic on a daily basis, though I never did have to do as many chores as you've implied the Dursley family has made you do. Still, it was a pretty shitty upbringing, and I just can't stand the place any longer. I still remember the last fight I had with my mother, right before I ran away from that snake pit and moved in with your father, James, at Potter Manor."

"There's a Potter Manor?" asked Harry.

"Not anymore, but there was," said Sirius. Upon seeing Harry's confused expression, the fugitive explicated, "It burned down at the height of Voldemort's Reign of Darkness, along with the Longbottom, Prewit, and Bones family manors. All their Family Crests were stolen and hidden away by the Dark Lord's followers, still lost to the world at large. That's where the Potter Family Crest is at the moment, somewhere nobody will ever accidentally stumble upon it."

So Dumbledore didn't steal his Family Crest. Voldemort did, before disappearing off the face of the Earth. That was a much better situation...

"So are you in?" asked Harry. Hermione nodded instantly, even if the question wasn't really directed towards her. Sirius, for his part, appeared to be contemplating his next course of action.

Finally he looked up and asked, "And what do I get out of this if I go along with it?"

Nodding, Hary said, "Like I already mentioned, the ability to move about freely. I could also give you back all of your family's stuff, it's not really all that important to me." Those words seemed to be the right ones, because Sirius nodded right along with him, giving his consent to continue with the operation, as it were.

"Alright, say I do go through with this. What do you get out of this?" he asked testily, wondering if his godson had some ulterior motive to lending him a helping hand. Of course, considering neither James or Lily were the kind of people that used their friends like tools, he didn't expect to get an answer other than a possible cheeky reply containing a joke. What he got shocked him beyond words.

Harry tilted his head to gather his thoughts and said, "Emancipation, a bounty, some infamy and respect, contacts with powerful people, and my godfather to actually be around me." Saving the fact that he actually wanted to be around his godfather for last was a calculated move on Harry's part, to further the feelings of fatherly or brotherly affection that was being fostered between them during their bonding time. Said bonding time involved planning to break numerous laws, but that was beside the point.

"This is starting to actually sound like a good idea all around," said Sirius. "I'm in." Harry let out a breath of relief and smiled winningly.

Hermione wouldn't be left out of the action, however, and said, "Me too," which just made the two males chuckle at her insistence to be included. She was probably one of the most determined people Harry had ever met, and one of the most loyal friends he could have ever asked for. Her unrequited feelings of attraction towards him were admittedly a little uncomfortable, but maybe she would grow out of her crush in time. Or maybe he would grow into it. You never could tell which way the wind would blow in regards to relationships around Harry.

"Excellent. We just have to go to Number Twelve, Gimmuald Place," said Harry.

"Can't wait," said Sirius sarcastically.  
_

Dumbledore was sitting in his office, going over his accursed paperwork. The sun was setting, but he didn't have enough time to look at the beautiful landscape out his window. He was currently juggling several important jobs: being the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, being the Chief Warlock of the Upper House of the Wizengamot, being the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and being the de facto leader of the vigilante group known as the Order of the Phoenix.

Currently, he was filling out some forms to add a new student to the school. Tonks, being a metamorphmagus, would be the perfect undercover bodyguard for Harry while in school. She could act like a foreign exchange student, somehow worm her way into Harry's small circle of friends, and then the trouble attracting boy would have someone with the skills of a junior auror around him at all times. While there needed to be some danger to test the boy's ability to cope with pressure, she would be perfectly capable of alleviating that stress if necessary.

There was a knock on the oaken door of his office, greatly surprising the Headmaster since he didn't even sense someone's presence until they made themselves known. There were only about a dozen or so people in the entire world that could boast being able to escape his notice, none of which he was on very good terms with. Having a fairly good idea of who this person was and what they wanted, Dumbledore sighed at the clock before intoning, "Enter."

The door opened and a man entered the room, a man who appeared to be in his early forties but was far older. "Dumbledore, my wayward disciple," said the man, a twinkle in his eyes. It was, in fact, the twinkle that Dumbledore tried and failed miserably to imitate. Oh, his was good enough to catch the attention of most witches and wizards, but the one before him could ensnare the mind of any mage rather effortlessly.

Mildly humbled by the other man's somewhat unexpected visit, Dumbledore said warily, "Hello Mr. Flamel. To what do I owe this pleasure?" He tried to downplay his past relationship as an apprentice to the man before him by appearing cordial yet professional, but the man only seemed amused by Dumbledore's antics.

Deciding to get right to business, the other man said, "As the liaison between the Mages' Association and the International Confederation of Wizards, it is my duty to inform you, for some reason in person, that the Triwizard Tournament to be held in this school later this year will be frowned upon severely by my esteemed colleagues and I. Maybe if the three schools involved taught magecraft rather than witchcraft and wizardry..." That was a low blow.

Magecraft is the ability to reproduce what can be scientifically realized regardless of time and funds. The limits of magecraft have changed with time, as science evolved and sorceries from before became technically possible through science. However, modern magecraft remains far inferior from that of the past.

"I assure you that the candidates selected for participation in the tournament by the Educational Triumvirate of Magical Europe will be seventeen years of age and considered to be adults. They will only be chosen if they volunteer-" said Dumbledore, but Flamel waved his protestations away as if they were mere insects.

"Let's cut to the chase, shall we?" said Flamel, a condescending smile on his deceptively youthful face. "Magical Britain is a relatively isolated magical government, somehow keeping a traditional feudalistic form of government several centuries after the muggles left the medieval era behind them," he spoke, snide derision coloring his voice. "Antiquated notions of blood purity somehow being responsible for 'magical' ability have been plaguing the upper echelons of your woefully imbalanced socioeconomic castes."

"How exactly does you slandering Britain have anything to do with the Triwizard Tournament?" asked Dumbledore with gritted teeth. Dumbledore saw no way to really combat the inequality, bigotry, and oppression that was heavily present in the country he loved. At least, not yet anyway. If he tried, he'd be ostracized from the political positions that it took him almost a century to gain, and he'd likely be ridiculed by Ministry propaganda. An entire lifetime of work could be undone in the blink of an eye in such a backwards country, and he was slowly consolidating his power to bring about some kind of change in the general populous.

"Well... we don't think it wise to have such a politically significant event being housed in such a... _place _as Britain. It's just that there are other options available, and we feel that having it at either Beauxbatons or Durmstrang instead of Hogwarts would be a much better choice," said Flamel silkily.

"This has nothing to do with the Tournament, does it?" asked Dumbledore hotly. There were only a few people in the world that could upset him enough to lose his composure. Incidentally that list and the group of people capable of sneaking up on him were remarkably similar, if not congruent. "You're just mad because I accidentally lost the Stone, and now you're trying to make my life difficult as some form of compensation, right?"

"You do realize that you condemned me to death with your failed trap for a _dead_dark _wizard_? I have maybe a decade left before I start aging, and then another six decades before I die." The statement was muttered with a surprising amount of vitriol for somebody who'd already lived several lifetimes.

Blinking in annoyance, Dumbledore uttered, "Death is but the next Great Adventure." He honestly couldn't believe that Flamel would have the audacity to even imply that rejecting death in the natural order was something to be celebrated, not shunned. It was unnatural, coming very close to what Dumbledore considered dark.

"That is complete bullshit and you know it. You destroyed a priceless artifact, the greatest achievement of my life, and you expect me to agree with your decisions? You can die if you want, but this is a personal choice if given the option to cheat death, and you took that away from me. There's no way to recreate the stone... However, my personal feeling have nothing to do with this situation. This is the consensus of the higher-ups in the Mage's Association. If you don't like it, that just sucks for you," said Flamel.

On the international level, Dumbledore was trying hard to keep the Mage's Association and Holy Church from getting a proper foothold in Britain, France, and Germany but was slowly failing over time. "Do you expect me to give into the demands of the Association so easily? Do not forget that I defeated Grindelwald, who's still considered the strongest sorcerer to ever exist. I am more than capable of defending my home from greedy foreigners." Of course, historically the British were some of the most imperialistic people to ever walk the Earth, but Flamel didn't feel like pointing that out to his old apprentice.

"You do realize that going against the Association is political suicide, even for someone as illustrious as yourself?" asked Flamel. This was likely how the Association was planning on exerting some influence over the British Isles. Flamel grinned evilly and said, "They are willing to make a concession that would allow you to appease them while continuing the Tournament, if you're interested." Dumbledore was, despite his previous bluff, and watching intently, looking for any signs of deception. When he saw none, he nodded slowly for his old acquaintance to continue. "Allow one of our representatives to stay in the castle during the Tournament."

"And who exactly do you have in mind?" asked Dumbledore in annoyance. Flamel's answering grin would give Dumbledore insomnia for the rest of the week.  
_

Harry, Hermione, and Sirius all appeared outside Grimmauld Place in a flash of black flames. Both Sirius and Hermione stared at Harry in fascination or curiosity, not quite sure what just happened though fairly certain that he was responsible. The plaza they just entered was fairly dark, barely lit by the occasional street lamp. Mist was falling from the dark clouds above them, and the three magic users began their trek to Number Twelve.

"Harry, what did you just do?" asked Hermione, her head tilted to the side. Sirius, on the other hand, was openly gaping at his godson and apparently incapable of articulating his own thoughts on the matter. They began walking up the stairs leading to the front door, stopping right at the threshold. Sirius's easy hatred of their current location was temporarily forgotten as he tried to figure out what his godson just did. His brain told him the facts, but he just couldn't comprehend it.

"What? Oh, that. I just phoenix-flashed us here," said Harry with slight pseudo-cockiness entering his voice. The fact that there was no phoenix to escort them from one point in space to another wasn't lost on his traveling companions, so he elaborated, "I've been able to do it since the start of summer. It's one of the better consequences of the adventure I can only tell you parts of." The last part was more directed towards Hermione than Sirius, since the latter didn't even know about said adventure yet.

"Do you realize what this means?" whispered Sirius, disregarding the mysterious adventure, his sunken eyes boring into Harry with unrestrained intensity. "You have the First Blaze!" said the escaped convict with a small hint of accusation. Harry was bewildered as to why the man would feel betrayed, but he couldn't ask because Sirius continued, "Which means that James had it as well, and he never told me..."

Now Harry understood. "It's much more likely that my father didn't even know," said Harry, trying to reassure his godfather. "I don't see him intentionally keeping such a big secret from you, but I never really got to know him, so I wouldn't really know anyway." That didn't help alleviate Sirius's concerns, but it was the truth, which is all that mattered at the moment. "Besides, isn't it against etiquette to mention it around people outside your family or something?" Harry disregarded that rule for the most part, but his father might not have been so callous.

They were still standing on the porch, not even attempting to enter now that they had an interesting conversational topic. "I guess so..." said Sirius, who was busy scrutinizing his godson.

"I wonder why there aren't many books on bloodline abilities and family crests," said Hermione. "They are rather important, aren't they?"

Sirius sighed and said, "Of course you would know about bloodline abilities and family crests, Hermione. However, most people aren't as studious as you, and the information is mostly kept away from muggleborns." Both Harry and Hermione were about to react strongly to the implication behind those words when the man knowingly acquiesced, "I didn't mean for it to come out like that; bad wording on my part. You see, muggleborns are typically kept in the dark about a lot of these things, simply because the older families don't want their power and authority challenged in any way, shape, or form."

"I don't get what you mean," said Harry. "How would muggleborns knowing about bloodline abilities or family crests be a bad thing for pureblood assholes?" Upon utterance of that last word, Harry smirked, Sirius winced, and Hermione looked like she was about to admonish Harry for vulgarity. However, Harry just winked at her, which made her blush and look away. It was rather adorable, but Harry _was_ technically engaged to Cho... and partaking in various acts of questionable legality and taste with Tonks...

"Well..." began Sirius hesitantly, his stance shifting as he nervously fidgeted, "Have you ever heard the old adage that knowledge is power?" Both schoolchildren nodded so he continued, "Well the purebloods are insanely paranoid that they'll lose their inborn advantages to the muggleborns if it was ever discovered..." He didn't need to explain the backward reasoning of his deluded compatriots to his godson; Harry understood just how important perceived power was to the old codgers.

Hermione appeared speechless for a few moments before replying, "Alright, now that I know what you guys are talking about... So Harry's distantly descended from Godric Gryffindor, and has somehow come into contact with the Crest of Gryffindor? But the only object even remotely..." She trailed off, her eyes going unfocused as he mind began racing towards possibilities.

"No, Hermione," said Harry. "Occasionally a strong enough wizard can have a fraction of their bloodline ability's potential unlock if they have enough magical ability or are traumatized enough. It's sort of like the mutants in X-Men that typically unlock their crazy powers through emotional turmoil," he ended, hoping that the reference towards muggle comic books didn't go over the other two's heads.

As if she hadn't heard anything that he just said, which wasn't entirely unlikely due to her obvious internal ruminations, Hermione finally muttered a rhetorical question aloud, "So the Sword of Gryffindor has the Crest of Gryffindor on it somewhere?"

Harry and Sirius stared at her in shocked silence. "I can't believe it," said Harry. "Knowing about this stuff for less than a few minutes and she's already making strides towards discovering lost artifacts of incredible power. Though I guess the sword isn't necessarily lost anymore, since I used it to kill a basilisk..." he muttered, thinking about whether the Sword really was the Crest as well. If he could get his hands on it and fully awaken the First Blaze...

Sirius, who had been silently scrutinizing Hermione as if reconsidering her worth, suddenly whipped his head to Harry and practically shouted, "YOU WHAT?" upon hearing his godson casually mentioning slaying the second deadliest phantasmal creature known to mankind. First place was obviously a nundu.

Harry shrugged apologetically and said, "Did I forget to mention that? My bad, but our last reunion was a bit rushed, so you know it wasn't intentional. You can just blame any oversights on Pettigrew. If Snape hadn't let Pettigrew escape, or if Lupin hadn't forgotten to take the Wolfsbane Potion, we'd've been able to reminisce about such things all night long."

"Harry, when did you kill a basilisk?" asked a peeved Sirius. The question brought Harry up short.

"Isn't that public knowledge?" he asked, unsure of something. Dumbledore wouldn't downplay an event like that in international news, would he? Sirius shook his head, and Harry said, "Well, that was towards the end of second year. I killed it in the Chamber of Secrets with the Sword of Gryffindor and Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix."

"We really need to discuss your escapades in school," muttered Sirius, unsure of how to continue. "But I think we should discuss that after we're done running errands, don't you?"

Both kids nodded their assent, and they were about to open the door when a another voice cut across everybody, _"I completely agree."_

Both Hermione and Sirius, not having expected hearing a disembodied voice, jumped in place and instinctively pulled out their wands. Harry chuckled at their expense, and both turned to him. Hermione looked expectant for an answer to her unasked question, while Sirius narrowed his eyes at Harry, suspecting involvement of dark magic.

"Relax, relax," said Harry calmly. "It's just my phoenix familiar. He's hidden at the moment, but I can probably show him to you when we're inside." Getting the message, Sirius nodded and withdrew a sinister looking key from his pocket, before unlocking the door with it. A series of clicking and thudding noises emanated from the door, before the black wood swung inward with a creaking groan.

Old, musky air began swirling towards them from the door, and they could visibly see enough dust, dirt, rust, cobwebs, and moving shadows to creep them out. Sirius sarcastically said, "Welcome to my humble abode. Casa de Negro." Harry didn't know why the man just used Spanish, but didn't care enough to ask. Without further ado, everyone hurried into the dark room, before the door shut behind them. "I will warn you though, be very quiet. Nobody's lived in this house for nearly fifteen years, and all sorts of nasty things could've moved in by now. Plus my mother's portrait is here..."

The place was filthy, the furniture was broken, the floor creaked under their feet but their footsteps were muffled by the sheer amount of debris littering the carpet, and the paintings were all scowling in annoyance at them. Harry, getting a little fed up with their attitudes, began making faces back at them. Hermione was trying her best to cast cleaning spells, but nothing she did seemed to have a powerful enough effect. Sirius's eyes were darting around frantically, since he didn't have a replacement wand yet.

As they were moving, a random thought popped into Hermione's head. "I'm curious," began the bookworm with a leading tone to her voice, as if knowing that her answer wouldn't quite, "-as to how you plan on making his death appear to be legitimate." The random segue caught both guys' attention, making Harry get a cobweb stuck to his face when he stopped paying attention to his surroundings.

Sirius laughed happily at his godson's embarrassment, but quickly got over it. Turning to Hermione in a serious manner, Sirius said, "What do you mean?" He had a feeling that she was capable of pointing out flaws in any plan or scheme that Harry could cook up, which meant that she likely had an epiphany that would help make his faked death appear to be that much more realistic. "Could you elaborate on that thought a bit, Hermione?" he asked.

Nodding with a twinkle in her eyes similar to Dumbledore's infamous ocular illusion but completely unintentional and innocent on her part, Hermione grinned and said, "Like, didn't the goblins of Gringotts know that Sirius didn't get a fair trial because his magic was still connected to you? Wouldn't they be able to verify that he was still alive?" That... actually made a lot of sense to Sirius, now that he thought about it. He turned questioningly to Harry, hoping the kid would have a viable solution-

"I didn't even think of that..." said Harry in a defeated voice. Upon hearing that, Sirius tripped over a cobweb and crashed into a nearby pot. The commotion was quickly followed by some of the most annoyingly shrill screams any of them had ever heard.

"MY SON AND A MUDBLOOD ARE IN MY HOUSE! KREACHER!"

Sirius groaned and said, "I'd like to introduce you to my bint of a mother, Mrs. Black." Both kids were shocked beyond words as she continued screaming expletives and obscenities at them while awaiting the arrival of her most trusted and loyal servant. Luckily, the house elf wasn't bonded to her any longer, since she was neither alive nor the Head of the Black Family any longer. Thus, Kreacher couldn't be ordered to do anything against Sirius and his two traveling companions.

... "There is a way to fool them," began Hermione, trying to get the conversation back on track before they all forgot the major flaw to their plan, "-but I don't know what it is. I know that if my body expires, the magic is severed, but I'm not willing to give up my body just yet. I'm sure there's some easier way to do it-"

_"There is," _replied Equinox as he burst into fiery existence beside their group, his black flames scaring away several unidentifiable creatures that were attempting to sneak up on them,_"-if you know where to go. Harry here has gained a very powerful ally as of late, one with vast resources and numerous connections. They have ways of getting away with things like this, trust me. I don't know exactly how they'll do it, but they can make you disappear completely. Not even the goblins or house elves will be able to find you."_

"Harry, is your phoenix trustworthy?" said Sirius warily. The man wanted to get their business done with as soon as possible, so he didn't have to stay in the place any longer than he needed to. The fact that the avian phantasmal creature was also a legendary variant of its species was beside the point for the time being. All he wanted to do was find the Crest as soon as possible.

"Of course, why wouldn't he be?" said Harry. While he hadn't yet explained the fact that Equinox was actually a mental partition of a future version of himself that was sent back in time out of what sounded remarkably like boredom from the phoenix's own words, he did think that it would be a little easier to gain their trust.

"He was just making sure, Harry, that's all," said Hermione, whose wand was still casting as many _Scourgify_ charms as possible, with little to no effect on their surroundings. "Maybe we should buy some magical cleaning supplies the next time we're in Diagon Alley," she said, her voice a little ragged from the constant spell casting. "I've never actually been shopping for things like that before. It should be an interesting learning experience for me," she said, somehow still thinking about nothing more than studying at a time like this.

"On that note, let's get the Black Family Crest and get the hell out of here," said Harry.

"You won't be doing that," came a creepy voice. Everybody looked up to see, without a doubt, the ugliest house elf any of them had ever had the misfortune to meet. "A mudblood, a blood traitor, and a half blood... all sullying the House of Black with their dirty feet... oh, what would Mistress think?"

Sirius's eyes hardened and he barked, "Kreacher, don't use those words in my presence." Seeing Harry's questioning look, he explained, "This little bugger is one of the reasons I ran away from home, along with my family in general. You can see how horrible they are, to be able to somehow indoctrinate a house elf with their twisted beliefs." Harry just looked at the elf with sadness. Hermione looked more annoyed at the creature's horrible grammar than anything else.

"And it was a good thing, too, when you left. Mistress said, 'Good Riddance,' and Master Regulus-"

But Sirius had apparently heard enough. "Kreacher," he ground out through gritted teeth, "Where is the Family Crest?" The question left no room for misinterpretation or negotiation, simply submission to his master's order. This would be the ultimate test of Sirius's inheritance; chiefly whether he actually became Lord Black or not, since the house elf wouldn't willingly serve Sirius given their history.

Kreacher's lips quivered as he tried to stop himself from blabbing, but the house elf was bonded to the Black Family, and Sirius was its Head. "The..." Kreacher's eyes started bulging, and he began clawing himself with his overgrown nails, "Crest..." The little humanoid's face scrunched up in pain as it began hyperventilating. It fell onto the ground, hacking and coughing on one knee, pointing one finger at the portrait of Mrs. Black.

The figure in the painting started cackling maniacally, before Harry walked up to her with a determined look in his eyes. He noticed that the border of the painting was silver, with emerald snakes coiling about. **"You,"** he said unintentionally in parseltongue, **"-are a horrible excuse for a human being."** Whether the woman understood what he was saying or not, she stopped laughing suddenly and stared at him with wide eyes. Plus she's a painting, not a person, but whatever.

"Y-You can s-sp-speak the sn-snake language," she asked, fear prevalent in her voice. Without giving him a chance to respond, she continued, "And I insulted your traveling companions? I-I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, Lord Slytherin!" He stared at her, and tilted his head to the side curiously. This was unexpected, to say the least. He didn't think she'd react so strongly to his diminutive derivative of parseltongue, but he wasn't going to look a gift-snake in the mouth.

Reverting back to English, he said, "Me and my godfather here," he said as he gestured to the woman's son, "-are here to pick up the Black Family Crest so that we can both activate our metamorphmagus powers. We would also like to remove it from the premises, as well as any useful artifacts and books scattered about the place. Would you kindly help us out?"

Kreacher, having long since gotten over his punishment for attempting to defy his rightful master, bounced to Harry with something between fanatic devotion and affectionate obsession. "Kreacher would gladly help the young master," before disappearing in the tell-tale cracking sound of apparition.

"Well that was a lot easier than I expected it to be," said Sirius...  
_

The goblin council was meeting to discuss recent events. There were twelve clan heads and Ragnok himself sitting at a round table in an undisclosed location. The Ironclaw clan head began speaking, "We cannot condone this. Everybody knows that the Chinese Triads are the only direct competitors with the Goblin Triads. Should the Chang family unite with Harry Potter, the boy will be a target."

The Stronghammer clan head replied, "And how would that be a bad thing? We all know that he's the only obstacle to the Dark Lord, and he has promised us greater rights once he becomes the leader of the new regime. He isn't dead despite what the Ministry would have us believe, because we would certainly know. The magic protecting the Gaunt Family Vault is still active, so they must still have a direct descendant still alive. This proves that he's still alive. My clan personally believes in his survival."

The Skullcrusher clan head stated, "Everyone knows the Dark Lord was unlikely to live up to his words, of that I'm certain. He would have slaughtered our people once he had power without a single thought. We need to protect Harry from as many enemies as possible."

Ragnok sighed and said, "So we need to discuss whether the Dark Lord is still alive or not. Those who believe that he's alive, raise your blades!" Nine of the assembled twelve chieftains brought their decorative weapons in the air to signal their agreement.

"Alright, so the goblin people officially believe that the Snake Heir is alive. How do we proceed? Do we side with him, remain neutral, or young Harry? All those in favor of forming an alliance with the younger human, raise your blades!" This time only five showed their affirmative. "All those in favor of neutrality?" This time three rose their blades. "So it's a tie between swearing allegiance to Harry or Voldemort. This time, neutrality has been taken off the table. This time raise your blades if you wish to support the Dark Lord!" Six raised their blades while six remained stock still. Ragnok sighed and said, "So I must break the tie? I choose to side with Harry."

There were groans of anger from those that wanted to support the Dark Lord, the loudest of which was Stronghammer, but Ragnok ignored them. "And so now we must decide our course of action. We cannot have Harry as a target for the Triads. This means that the marriage between Cho Chang and Harry Potter must not occur. I propose that we wait until the most opportune moment. With his godfather free, Harry will be a much more powerful individual in human politics and could make things quite a bit easier for us, and I believe that this was the only reason he entered the contract."

"So are we to simply just wait around?" asked Ironclaw. "I think we should begin raising an army again, though we should keep it secret from the Ministry. If they found out, they would believe us to be planning another rebellion and destroy our forces before they were worthy of battle. We'll need to create a conscription for soldiers and metal subsidies to increase weapon and armor production." Ragnok smiled at the proactive tribal leader. Ironclaw was always an ally of his in anything.

"All those in favor of Ironclaw's plan, raise your blade!" yelled Ragnok. All twelve blades were pointed skyward, signifying the creation of the first goblin army in nearly two centuries. "Mine comrades, we are now at war with the Dark Lord!" There were excited bellows and shouts, guttural growls and roars, and approving barks and yips from the assembled goblins. Big things were about to happen in the world, and Ragnok would be one of those leaders of change.


	17. Act One: Forbidden Forest Part Two

**Side Notes: Sorry it took so long. This chapter has several complicated ideas in it, regarding to the mental arts. Fleur will come back into the spotlight during the Quidditch World Cup.**

* * *

Harry, Hermione, and Tonks all appeared in a burst of fiery blackness. Within moments they were greeted by a welcoming party. "Greetings, Flame Walker," said the leader of the entourage with a fixed smile on his face. Harry recognized the man-horse as Bane, the one that was largely responsible for the icy reception at the beginning. As if on second thought, Bane sarcastically added, "And you've brought guests, how wonderful. Well, come on then. Chiron's been expecting you for days..."

Blushing at the obvious admonishment coming from the phantasmal creature, Harry nodded and said, "Sorry about that. I was just a little distracted with certain developments happening around me." With that swift apology, Bane appeared to be appeased and the merry band of humans and centaurs went on their happy way.

They quickly moved across small dirt paths that traversed the whole village, both Hermione and Tonks looking around in astonishment. It was common knowledge that centaurs resided in the Forbidden Forest, among other things. However, there was no documented villages that they knew of, since hardly anybody was foolhardy enough to enter the dark woods. Hagrid's fantastical accounts of the forest's residents were mostly overlooked because of prejudice against his heritage, so little was known about the innermost parts of the place.

They passed many tiny huts on their way to wherever Chiron was, all the while Hermione's happy squeaks at discovering something new pervaded the group. "So it appears that centaurs live in closely knit, family oriented communities," she happily gushed, her eyes blurring at the speed they moved. "And it seems like you're all hunter-gatherers, though there is small evidence of agricultural development here and there, such as the domesticated venemous tentacula and devil's snare. It's like suddenly appearing in a human settlement several thousand years ago..."

"Hermione, I don't think they like being compared to ancient, primitive human civilizations," said Tonks, who had a tight grip on her wand, more because of Bane's demeanor than anything else. The brunette looked confused before the auror bodyguard elaborated, "You're insulting them. You may not be trying to sound condescending and pretentious, but that's how you come off." She looked scandalized that anybody could take her academic fervor as an insult, but one of their centaur guards silently nodded, thus shutting her up before she could even defend herself.

"We're here," said Harry happily, the group coming to a standstill before a log cabin. It was an average looking home, though the doorway was much wider to accommodate a centaur's large size.

As if on cue, the front door opened and the centaur chieftain regally exited the small home. "Flame Walker," said the ancient centaur, nodding his head in acknowledgement to Harry, "... and guests. Please tell me your names?" That was the second time Harry'd be gently admonished for bringing uninvited guests along with him. He supposed that him just assuming that he could bring people along with him was a little presumptuous on his part, but he really needed these two to be able to protect their minds.

"Junior Auror Nymphadora Tonks, on protection detail for Mr. Potter," answered the metamorphmagus, whose hand was still resting comfortably on her wand. Her silent warning not to try anything funny was largely ignored by the centaurs, who stared reverently at both Harry and Chiron. Harry still didn't know what Equinox told them during their private mental chat over a week ago, but it apparently raised his status among the horse-men enough to garner respect, and possible adulation, in their eyes.

"Hermione Jean Granger," said the brunette, humbly bowing her head.

Chiron chuckled and said, "There's no need to be so formal with me. I'm Chiron, by the way." At this statement, Hermione's head shot up faster than Sonic the Hedgehog could ever hope to move. Her soft brown eyes narrowed as she concentrated, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that the name Chiron was familiar to her. The fact that a centaur she happened to be talking to had that name...

"Are you the same Chiron spoken of in ancient Greek mythology?" asked Hermione. Before he could even reply, she continued, "Son of Chronus and Philyra, husband of Chariclo, father of Hippe, Endeis, Ocyrhoe, and Carystus? Teacher of Ascelepius, Aristaeus, Ajax, Aeneus, Actaeon, Caeneus, Theseus, Achilles, Jason, Peleus, Telamon, Perseus, and in some stories Heracles, Oileus, and Phoenix?"

Everyone in the immediate vicinity was staring at Hermione, whose eyes were fixed on Chiron. "Yes," he whispered quietly. "I am that Chiron. However my immediate family has been dead for quite some time. I'm immortal, forced to live on after their deaths. After that, I began training many Greek mythological heroes, all of whom were actually demigods in some form or another with the exception of Jason."

"What are you doing in Britain?" asked Hermione in a quiet voice, knowing that she was asking personal questions yet her curiosity forcing her to continue asking. "Specifically, why Hogwarts?"

"I'm not just here. As you're likely aware, divine spirits are capable of existing in multiple places at once, since they transcend human perception of reality, which is why they're so powerful. As the son of Kronos and half-brother of Zeus, I am also an immortal god. However, I lost my divinity when I was accidentally shot by Hercules with an arrow that was coated in hydra venom," said Chiron.

"I didn't know that hydras even existed, or that their venom could grant mortality to divine beings," Hermione said skeptically.

"The pain was so great that I gave up my immortality so I could die, though my spirit lingered. I was born as a divine beast, the highest of all magical creatures. In death, I became a divine spirit, capable of possessing multiple centaurs at a single given time. One of my avatars is in America, in a special camp that trains half-bloods. This is my other avatar, a centaur who was known as Firenze before I took over his body for the time being," responded Chiron.

Harry just now recognized Chiron as Firenze, the one that saved him from a Voldemort possessed Professor Quirrel during that detention from hell in the Forbidden Forest towards the end of his first year.

"But why are you here?" asked Tonks, still not understanding that part.

"I'm here to instruct one of the more powerful demigods that I've come across personally, a demigod wizard," replied the centaur. Hermione and Tonks both looked involuntarily at Harry, but Chiron nipped that thought right in the butt. "No, not Harry. I am willing to train him in the mental arts, but that's more because of his constant companion than anything else. I would teach you more, Harry, but you're not a demigod."

"Wait a minute," said Harry. "Let me get this straight. You're telling me that somewhere in Hogwarts this school year, there'll be a guy whose father or mother is an Olympian GOD? ... or goddess?" he asked, adding on the last amendment at the look on Hermione's face. "Thus, whoever they are is a demigod?" He remembered Durza saying something along the lines of, 'All polytheistic and monotheistic deities exist in some form or another,' but he didn't think that the vampire lord was serious.

Chiron frowned and asked, "How did you know that he was a demigod as opposed to a demigoddess?" That was an identifying bit of information, cutting the anonymity of his student in half. Now that they knew his gender, they could have a much easier time figuring out who it was. And if they did that, the knowledge that he was a demigod would spread throughout the school, thus boosting faith in the Greek pantheon... which wouldn't necessarily be a good thing.

Harry replied, "You referred to your student as a 'him', which is how I knew his gender." The quick answer almost embarrassed the old centaur, but he managed to keep a calm exterior. Chiron nodded silently, and Harry continued, "Also, are we allowed to know who it is or even who their godly parent is?"

Shaking his head, Chiron said, "It's not my secret to give, though I'll ask him whether he wishes to tell you or not. If he does feel the need to tell you, I'll give you as much information as is permitted. Now, why don't we stop this inquisition and get back to the main reason that you three are here: to learn and master the mental arts. I promised the firebird that I would train Harry, not anybody else. However, I'm feeling generous at the moment and will teach you two as well, but no more than that."

Everyone nodded, and a centaur stepped forth from the travel group. Another centaur bowed politely to the guests and said, "Since Mr. Potter is further than you two, I'll take it upon myself to teach you." Seeing Hermione and Tonks look murderous at being isolated from their Harry, the centaur explained, "It's so that his growth isn't stunted while waiting for you two to catch up."

Harry frowned and was about to mention that it only took him a few minutes to get to where he was, but then Equinox interrupted, _"Don't call that sort of attention to yourself, at least not yet. Not many other people could learn the mental arts as easily and quickly as you. Do you remember what the Potter family's bloodline ability is?"_

_"No, because nobody bothered to actually tell me. According to Sabreclaw, that information is so confidential that even he didn't know, and he told me about it in the first place. He did mention that it had something to do with the mental arts, but that nobody knew exactly what it was. And I'm guessing, from the way that you asked me that, that you're aware of what the ability is?"_ queried Harry. He watched as Tonks and Hermione were led away by the nice centaur, wondering how far along they'd get.

_"Yes, I know what it is. The ability's called Intuitive Aptitude, which basically means that you understand complicated things easily, with minimal effort. It's been manifesting in you recently, just like all your other bloodline abilities, due to my presence warping your magic. If it was completely unlocked, along with those Eyes of Misery, you could be a powerful force to be reckoned with. Of course, you'd actually need to uncover the Potter Family Crest from whoever stole it-"_

_"And I'd need to unlock the Peverell Family Vault in Gringotts, which requires me to collect all three Deathly Hallows. I've already got the Cloak of Invisibility, but I don't know where the Resurrection Stone or the Elder Wand could be," _said Harry.

_"The Resurrection Stone is, funnily enough, in the possession of Voldemort though he doesn't know what it truly is. He just thinks that it's an old family heirloom of the Gaunt bloodline, and ended up making the ring containing it into a horcrux. The Elder Wand is currently in the possession of Dumbledore, which he won after he finished his duel with Grindelwald."_

_"What's a horcrux? And what are the odds that both objects that I need to completely awaken my bloodline abilities are in the hands of those two?" _asked Harry, a slight amount of amusement coming from him.

_"Yes, it does seem a bit of a coincidence, doesn't it? Anyway, a horcrux is basically something that houses a portion of a soul, similar to how Crests house mental partitions," _said Equinox. _"They are the result of the ultimate crime, murder, along with the darkest of rituals. They were first invented in ancient Egypt long ago, to truly preserve Pharaohs for all of eternity. There is a light aligned alternative, a soul anchor that doesn't corrupt the soul, though it is far more difficult to create. Those are animancora, which were invented in ancient China. Animancora and horcruxes fulfill the same purpose, it's just that they don't have the same horrible price."_

_"Why would Voldemort create a horcrux if he could create an animancora? It seems a little silly..."_

_"Likely because he was ignorant of their existence, though it's also possible that he couldn't create them at all. Being dark aligned as he was, creating an animancora would've been far more painful and difficult than creating a horcrux. Also, before I forget, he still has several horcruxes scattered around the place, which is why he didn't die completely when his _Avada Kedavra _backfired and disintegrated his body," _said Equinox, mentally berating himself in the process. How could he possibly have forgotten that little tidbit of information until just now?

_"And he accidentally turned me into a horcrux, didn't he? That's what you meant when you said there was a hostile soul fragment from Voldemort within me even though it was being repressed by Dumbledore's restrictions. Then, you destroyed the horcrux and began to weaken those restrictions just through your presence alone... We've got to destroy them as soon as possible," _said Harry.

_"Yes, but first we need to get your mental abilities firmly under control. You don't want to be possessed by a piece of Voldemort, trust me," _said the Phoenix.

"Alright," said Chiron, "-let's begin. I already told you about some of the more advanced skills that come with the mental arts. For now, you aren't yet skilled enough to learn any of the things that I mentioned, but we can still discuss them before we actually start practicing. Do you have any questions about thought acceleration, mental partitions, or astral projections?"

"Yeah. What all does thought acceleration allow one to do, other than be really good at math?" asked Harry.

"Thought acceleration has been known to give exceptionally gifted and studious users limited capabilities in probability calculation, intuitive aptitude, clarity of perception, eidetic memory, and adoptive muscle memory," said Chiron. All of those abilities...

_"Yes, it seems like you're understanding it now. You have an affinity for the mental arts because of your bloodline abilities. While you may not have the Eyes of Misery activated at the moment, it still gives you every one of those abilities with the exception of intuitive aptitude, which you gained anyway from the Potter family bloodline. It's why you can learn things so quickly; you already have the perks of thought acceleration while thinking at regular speed. And if you actually are able to use thought acceleration, your other mental abilities while increase exponentially-"_

_"Which can then, in turn, be used to exponentially increase my thought acceleration," _said Harry, realizing that he could potentially be the greatest practitioner of the mental arts that ever lived. Snapping out of his euphoric stupor, Harry asked, "So what about mental partitions and astral projections? I already know that mental partitions can store information, elevate cognitive abilities, give someone multiple personas, and basically hyperthreading thought patterns, but is there anything else?"

"Well, it appears that you have a thorough understanding of mental partitions, probably because you discovered exactly what is used to store knowledge in a noble family's Blood Crest, so I'll just skip on over to astral projections. They are projections of your mind into the astral plane, leaving your physical body behind in the terrestrial plane. While controlling an astral projection, you aren't bound to the typical laws of the terrestrial plane since you are no longer in it," explained Chiron.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" asked Harry.

"Simply put, you could phase through otherwise solid objects, levitate through the air, and are essentially invisible the entire time, unless you come across another user of the mental arts. All the while, you can't use magic from your incorporeal form, but you still have access to your mental abilities. This means that you could possess somebody once you get astral projections down pat," said Chiron.

"That's horrifying," said Harry, remembering how Voldemort infiltrated Hogwarts initially. He had to shiver at that, and mentally vow never to do that to an unwilling person, unless they deserved it.

"Oh, but those three are the pinnacle of the mental arts. They are the great three supplementary abilities, though there are others. For now, we're going to go back to the basics: offense and defense. I'm personally better at defensive activities, such as emotional suppression, hiding memories, faking memories, encrypting thoughts, forming complicated mental shields, constructing animated mental guardians, setting up puzzle based defenses, and creating paradoxes to make the infiltration attempt a very surreal experience," said Chiron.

"You mentioned something about offensive abilities as well?" queried Harry.

"Yes, yes I did. I already mentioned that you could learn how to form compulsions on your own time, as well as the basics of memory manipulation. I won't teach you how to duplicate, delete, remove, edit, or insert memories because those are fairly basic abilities that are written down in books. Think of it as a homework assignment, if you will. I can, however, teach you how to telepathically communicate to individuals other than your familiar, how to manipulate the emotions and temperaments of the people around you, and how to alter someone's perception by impairing their senses and reflexes," said Chiron.

"Wow," said Harry. "What are we waiting for? Let's get started!"  
_

Harry sincerely regretted starting this lesson. Chiron had calmly instructed Harry to project legilimentic tendrils at him. Chiron batted them away easily without showing any outward sign of movement, using only his psychic fortitude to block, deflect, dodge, parry, and counter the magic pouring out of Harry. After five agonizing minutes, Chiron allowed him to forge a connection, simply so Harry could feel what it felt like. And it wasn't pleasant in the slightest.

The centaur had used meditative techniques to keep calm while projecting negative emotions through the mental link. Anger, sorrow, hatred, greed, jealousy, fear, and many other things filled Harry's head at the time. "That is the first line of defense, Harry. I call it an emotional deterrent," said Chiron. If that was simply the first line of defense, Harry didn't want to even imagine what he'd be going up against next, though he'd end up going against them anyway.

"The second," stated Chiron with a small vindictive smile on his face, "-is what I like to call information overload." As soon as he finished speaking, Harry could feel inane thoughts, trivial observations, random inferences, scientific facts, television trivia (where the hell did the centaur see Star Wars?), imaginary phenomenon, and superficial opinions exploding across the connection. All over the course of a few seconds.

Harry clutched his head and silently screamed, and Chiron only chuckled. "Headaches and migraines go along with the territory, Harry. You'd better get used to it." Chiron had sent more information than Harry could handle. And Harry wasn't even completely human anymore! His mental faculties were already significantly faster than most people could ever hope to dream of possibly emulating, yet Chiron overwhelmed him as if he were a mere insect.

"You really are amazing," said Harry through his heavy breathing and deep pants. This was a challenge that he hadn't expected, and it was... invigorating, to say the least. He couldn't just rely on Equinox to help him this time, since he wasn't in mortal danger, nor did he particularly want help. He would scale the impossibly difficult mountain that is Chiron, eventually triumphing over the old centaur. But right now, he wasn't quite there yet.

Smiling indulgently, Chiron said, "Alright, I'll let you come inside. But be warned. The mind of a centaur is a very twisted place..."

And now, Harry was standing in a bizarre place.

"The dreamstate that the mindscape is perpetually held within allows for some very interesting things to happen," said the disembodied voice of Chiron. "For instance, the first level of my outermost shield is literally a jigsaw puzzle." And he wasn't lying. In front of Harry were hundreds and thousands of tiny pieces to an enormous jigsaw puzzle, all of which had moving pictures on them that made the task even more difficult. "However, I'll go easy on you..." All the jigsaw pieces jumped together and formed a three dimensional shape around Harry, though it was difficult to tell what kind. Maybe it was a cube?

"And now that you've passed the first part, what will you do now?" asked the voice. Harry had no clue what to do. It was impossibly dark around him, a pitch black lack of any sort of light. He felt cold, and somewhat sluggish; also a little wet. It was as if he were in the ocean; the deepest, darkest parts that humans weren't ever meant to see. He felt movement in the water, which terrified him immensely.

"How is this possible?" asked Harry, though his words were garbled by the imaginary water.

"Let me give you a quick summary. The world that surrounds you exists inside your own brain as a pattern of neurons firing. The _sensation_ of a bright blue sky isn't something high above you, it exists purely in your visual cortex, which resides in the back of your brain. And the _picture _of your surroundings is simply the result of your brain processing the visual data contained in the signals sent down from your eyes and retina. The thing about humans is that you all rely almost entirely on sight to observe your surroundings, thus making it much more powerful from an evolutionary standpoint. This is why having optical illusions as forms of defense is a good idea, and it is how you're experiencing this," said Chiron.

"I don't see how that-"

"Your brain has interpreted the observations made by your eyes, inferring, with the use of background knowledge, that you are in the deep ocean. Your brain believes on a subconscious level that you truly are there, while you consciously realize that you're safely inside somebody's mind. Thus, you react to the image as if you actually were underwater: you feel the cold water currents, you can't breathe, etc. And that is the greatest mystery of all. Any psionic wounds your mental representation takes are transferred to the original body. The illusion is powered by your own imagination given tiny details, and is capable of actually harming you," said Chiron.

"No wonder so few go into this," said Harry, his voice still bubbling up.

"Yes," said Chiron. "It's a pity though, since it's such a useful field to invest in. Regardless, back to the lesson. In this water, you normally wouldn't be able to breathe but I'm taking it easy on you. Also, you'd be suffering from hypothermia by now, even though your body is fine. But there's another thing in the water that would've easily killed you if I hadn't told it not to. This illusion, while somewhat drawn from your imagination, has a foundation in what I know as well. You already know that I had an unusual family, but did you know that I'm related to several icthyocentaurs?"

"What's an icthyocentar?" asked Harry.

"They're basically like centaurs but with fish parts as well. Anyway, they live at the bottom of the ocean. While there, I learned of many frightening creatures that I used as inspiration behind my illusionary guardian," said Chiron. As he said that, a small glowing orb appeared before Harry. "My creation has the disguising ability and elasticity of a squid, the natural flexibility and electrical conductivity of an eel, the powerful electrosensitivity and bite force of a shark, the speed of a swordfish, the puncturing ability of a jelly fish, scaled body of a crocodile, and the bio-luminescence of an angler fish."

What greeted Harry was the most terrifying marine animal he'd ever seen. "Oh. You forgot to mention it's the size of a whale," said Harry. The thing roared a deep vibrating sound that shook the young wizard down to his very being, and greatly persuaded him to defecate his imaginary pants.

He could feel Chiron smirking, somehow, without even seeing him. "Yes, he's one of my many guardians. There are a few others in that particular room, but you've seen enough of that. Now, this may be difficult, but you must fully and totally alter your perception of the reality resulting from my imagination to escape. You need to transcend the three dimensional existence that you're physically constrained to. You need to evolve, mentally, into a four dimensional being. This is something few humans are capable of doing, since your brain is hardwired to view the world a certain way. It's just how you've evolved."

"How the hell am I supposed to evolve like that?" asked Harry, getting frustrated at the sheer ridiculousness of these requests.

"Everybody has their own answer to that. But to make it simpler, think of it like this. As a three dimensional being, you view the world around you as if it were a two dimensional screen. This is because you see multiple two dimensional planes overlapping into a three dimensional image that is simplified into a two dimensional image, hence the giant screen analogy. As a four dimensional being, you would see multiple three dimensional spaces overlapping into a four dimensional image that is simplified as a three dimensional image. This means that you can see multiple versions of the same space that reside in the same time," explained Chiron.

"You're getting a little too abstract for me," complained Harry.

"Alright, imagine the watery depths surrounding you to be a room in a house. Try to change what room you're in, without moving, simply relying on the power of your mind," said Chiron.

"So, it's sort of like apparition? Except instead of me moving to another room, the room is moving to me?" asked Harry.

"Essentially that is correct, from your perspective. I don't want to talk about the complexities of apparition yet, since most wizards don't even truly understand what they're doing. Um... anyway, try to move the next room to you, without moving yourself," said Chiron. "Try to think about it like this: the spatial dimension is typically made up of three axis. These are length allowing for forwards and backwards movement, width giving the left and right orientations, and height allowing for upwards and downwards movement. Try to imagine a fourth axis, that goes in a different direction, like in and out. Then, force your way out of the room."

Harry did as he was told, concentrating impossibly hard on moving outward yet remaining in the same spot. It was a slow shift, but he felt something inside him click into place. It would be impossible to describe exactly what was different in words, but he now understood what Chiron was trying to say. To transcend beyond the third and into the fourth, would allow him to move on a theoretical fourth axis. And that is what he began to do. He _felt_ the movement outwards, and watched in curiosity as the world around him wavered until he was standing outside the room, looking at... something beautiful.

"This," said Chiron, "-is a theoretical shape, only possible with Euclidean geometry, known as a tesseract. It is a four dimensional space made up of multiple three dimensional forms. Each room was made out of jigsaw puzzle pieces that needed to be put together. Without the ability to move in four dimensions, a person would only be able to move from one room to the next, encountering even more bizarre and dangerous guardians. You see, how it would function as a maze in that regard? However, the entire maze is simply a puzzle on a larger scale, basically a four dimensional rendition of a Rubik's Cube."

"My gods..." said Harry, incapable of even comprehending how complex the place was. He saw the room he came out of, a black box filled with water. Next to it was a castle protected by a giant hedge maze that was constantly shifting, an entire city that looked like the product of M. C. Escher, a fleet of spaceships that were shooting lasers and plasma bolts at anything in its sights, a room filled with an infinite number of clocks whose purpose Harry couldn't even begin to guess... the rooms were endless.

"And that," said Chiron, "-is only the first of the six hundred and sixty six barriers that are constantly in place around my mind. Remember the simple shield of flame that I had you create? Remember how difficult it was for you to create that? Now imagine trying to create this..." Harry got down on his hands and knees and began worshiping Chiron on the spot. The centaur truly was the greatest user of the mental arts in the world.

His actions were cut off when the world around them dimmed, and they woke up in the real world, in Chiron's cabin. "It almost makes me wonder if this is even the reality," muttered Harry as he glanced around.

Chuckling, Chiron said, "Yeah, it gets to be a bit much at times. Which is why we need to go over the important points. The astral plane acts the same way that a lucid dream does, in that you can do practically anything you could imagine. However, there are some drawbacks. You can't do magic in the astral plane, and you begin to lose your grip on reality. But there are several key things that reality has that the dreamworld doesn't. Reality testing is important. Text will change when you aren't looking, time will shift rapidly and in no apparent order, your face will be different, or other such phenomenon. To keep yourself from getting lost, you must keep some kind of totem."

"What's a totem?" asked Harry as they began to leave the cabin to gather the rest of his group.

"A totem is an object that is used to test if you're in reality or not. It has a specially modified weight, feel, or balance that doesn't act the way it's expected to. In the dream world, the totem will act the way it's expected to, not the way it's supposed to. Keep that in mind, Harry," said Chiron. "Oh, and don't let anybody other than you handle your totem, otherwise it's peculiar characteristics will be compromised and it'll lose it's effectiveness as a totem in the first place."

"Man this is starting to get confusing..."

* * *

**A/N: There's a little bit of Inception, Dollhouse, the Matrix, and other fanfiction scattered through this chapter, as well as the pseudoscience of lucid dreaming.**


	18. Act One: Diagon Alley Part 1

**Story Notes: I've been getting flak about explaining things in too much detail, which I totally agree with, looking back. However, I'll justify my actions by saying that all of Act One is essentially exposition, simply how I'm showing the distinction between cannon Harry Potter and TE Harry Potter. The action will pick up at the World Cup, then only escalate from there.**

**Chapter Notes: This chapter takes the story in a decidedly different direction. I won't know whether it's a good idea or not without some reviewer feedback. Honestly, I tried not to outright ask for reviews, but only getting like six that are more detailed than, 'Good' is a little detrimental. **

**Side Notes: I'm going to begin censoring curse words in this story because I'll be using it to demonstrate my creative writing abilities for colleges. Maybe. I don't know how that'll go for me. And, just curious, how many of you would be surprised to know that I'm only 17 years old at the time of this chapter's original upload**

**General Notes: Sorry for the weird update notification issue from about a week ago. I'd explain that, but then I'd be embarrassed. Oh, and it took that long to update because I've started my own novel :). It's a lot more action packed than this, but I still think it's good. If anybody wants to BETA it for me, PM me your email address. And I'd like help coming up with a better summary for this story as well. And I'm about to put up a poll for what Harry's animagus form will be, because I don't really care all that much.**

* * *

"Tell me Harry, have you ever known what the actual purpose of the Forbidden Forest was?" asked Chiron. Harry silently shook his head, so the semi-divine being said, "In the center of this forest is a lake, a body of water so pure and precious that it attracted the attention of many light creatures. In short, it was Lake Avalon, the place that King Arturia was bestowed with Excalibur and Avalon, and the place that allowed her to transform into the first veela. It is home to the Seelie Court of the Fae folk, the seat of their power."

Harry, Hermione, and Tonks were all seated in a circle along with several other centaurs. They were currently in a sweat-lodge, about to begin a psychedelic journey of hallucinations. "So Faeries are a united people?" asked Hermione curiously. Neither their Care For Magical Creatures or History of Magic classes even came close to broaching the subject, so none of the gathered humans had prior knowledge of this.

"No, they're split among the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. The distinction is largely similar to how Dark Elves and Light Elves are classified. In fact, considering that faeries and elves are basically the same creature just separated by their mythology, it is possible to claim that they are, in fact, the exact same creatures," explained Chiron.

"So what exactly are faeries and elves then?" asked Tonks.

"That is a difficult question to answer. Most Christians believe them to be demonic entities that have escaped hell, or angels that were cast out of heaven but weren't evil enough to be forced to go to hell, or that they were trapped in purgatory when God closed the Gates of Heaven. Pagans would try to define them as minor gods from ancient, long forgotten pantheons or even nature spirits. It is difficult to say exactly what they are, other than higher dimensional beings that interacted with ancient humans in the area," said Chiron.

"Back on topic, what did the Forbidden Forest have to do with Lake Avalon?" asked Harry.

"The Forest was placed as a natural defense around the Lake, to protect it from unsavory types. Lake Avalon is also the Fountain of Youth, the Mirror of Truth... it is the product of multiple leylines intersecting at a single point that was already a wellspring of Light energy. Any number of dark wizards, creatures, and spirits would love to corrupt the Lake with their evil influences, so the Four Founders built a fortress to protect the place," revealed Chiron.

"So Hogwarts wasn't even meant to be a school at first?" asked Harry.

"Oh, it was," conceded Chiron, "However, the educational aspect of the school was to train future protectors of the Lake. Over time, the original purpose of the school was forgotten and it began teaching basic education. However, the Forest had another purpose beyond being a buffer zone."

"And what was that?" wondered Hermione. She was always excited to learn something new.

"It is a Light creature reservation, a sanctuary created with the express purpose of conserving the slowly dwindling phantasmal creatures that were hallowed. You've seen the unicorns, but there is far more hidden deep within the Forest. There are all manner of nymphs, elves, faeries, unicorns, phoenixes, and similar such creatures that used to go gallivanting about. But recently dark creatures have begun encroaching on the paradise; things like werewolves, vampires, hags, trolls, giants, gnomes, ogres, minotaurs..."

"Originally the Forest was forbidden because it was a preserve for useful creatures, a menagerie if you will. But now it's forbidden because of the dangerous dark creatures..." said Hermione, having put two and two together all on her own.

"If that's the case, why doesn't somebody just organize hunts to cleanse the Forest?" wondered Harry aloud.

"Probably because the dark creatures are so heavily entrenched in the landscape that the defenders' body-count would be astronomical," said Tonks. "I've heard rumors about the accromantula colonies in these woods, and wouldn't be surprised if they could overrun the entire country with numbers alone. The only question is why they haven't done so when they're clearly capable."

"There's something in the Lake attracting their attention," decided Hermione. "I wonder what could grab their attention so easily?"

"Power," Harry said, his eyes looking off into the distance. "I can feel energy surging towards the center of the forest, towards the Lake. I don't know what..." he trailed off, frowning slightly as he screwed his eyes shut.

"Most of the remaining Light creatures are located on a small island in the center of the Lake, the shrine in which the Seelie Court gather. The Faerie Queen is the Lady of the Lake from the ancient stories, the Fae that gifted King Arturia with the powerful faerie artifacts that enabled her to gain such unrivaled fame. The Seelie Queen is drawing energy from the leylines for some unknown purpose. Even I, a transcendent being, cannot discern the purpose of her energy siphoning. I can tell you that it's been going on for a very long time, but the rate has substantially increased over the past few days, enough to start attracting even more attention..."

"Do you have any guesses as to what she's doing?" asked Harry.

"I think she's releasing a distress signal of some sort, though I can't be sure. The reason that I'm even telling you this much is that we centaurs are incapable of passing the protective hedge surrounding the Lake, or even crossing the pristine waters without being repelled by naiads, specifically limnades. The lake nymphs won't allow any phantasmal creature to cross the waters to the island for any reason, and their power is supreme as long as they remain within their watery domain," said Chiron.

"So you want us to go to this island?" asked Hermione curiously. Tonks and Harry exchanged a glance, wondering if his status as a demi-human would impact his ability to go with them. If not, great. If so... he wouldn't be able to reach the island, and what kind of protagonist was restricted by something so silly? This was one of those times that being a vampire wasn't the best.

"It seems you saw right through my intentions almost immediately. Very well, let me be honest with you. As centaurs, our ability with divination is great. We can read the lines of fate almost as easily as Apollo's Oracles, without even going into trances. That is one of the powers of astrology, one of our greatest subjects. However, our prophesies can be quite vague, almost frustratingly so. One of our greatest seers has made a startling prediction within the past few days, and it is... troubling, to say the least," said Chiron.

"What's it say?" wondered Tonks.

"We know that there will be a great war upon this world at some point the likes of which have never been seen. It won't be like the guerilla warfare and espionage tactics of the previous war that embroiled all of Wizarding Britain. No, it will be a war spanning the entire globe, eclipsing every previous conflict combined, at least tenfold. The planet will be devastated and there will be no survivors. That is a possible route that fate may take, if some dire actions aren't taken beforehand," said Chiron...  
_

Harry, Tonks, and Hermione reappeared in a blast of dark flames atop the roof of the eclectically constructed Burrow, just in time to hear Molly Weasley scream that breakfast was ready. As they followed the displaced air left in Ron's wake, they quickly came up with a cover story for why they were on the roof. When they finally reached the kitchen, the entire Weasley clan was already gathered and digging into their food.

"Harry dear, what took you so long?" asked Molly, quickly transitioning into overbearing mother mode.

"Oh, Hermione, Tonks, and I all went on the roof to watch the sunrise," he answered smoothly. Technically they had seen the sun rising, and they had gone up to the roof to leave, so he wasn't completely lying. He was just omitting that they were also training in the mental arts under centaurs. Pretty standard, really.

"That's lovely," replied the round woman, though her eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly at Hermione. It was accompanied by Ginny's accusing glare. "Well I'm sure you're hungry, so eat up!" The trio nodded and began filling up their plates when the front door opened without warning. Both Tonks and Shackelbolt drew their wands almost instantaneously and pointed them at the source of the commotion, an adorable blonde girl with a dreamy expression on her face.

"Hi Luna," greeted Ginny happily, having apparently forgotten her little vendetta against Hermione for the moment. "Watcha doin' here?" she questioned, while waving her fork about excitedly, getting gravy all over the place. Nobody else seemed to react to the girl's presence, so Harry just assumed that this was either a regular occurrence or nobody cared enough to comment.

The aurors resheathed their wands as Luna answered, "Oh, the Glibbering Humdingers told me that they smelled bacon over here, and it made me hungry."

Harry would've asked what a Glibbering Humdinger was, but was saved from having to do so by Ron. "What's a Glibbering Humdinger?" asked the overeating redhead. The fact that the boy actually managed to swallow his food beforehand was a little surprising to Harry, but he'd already noticed that Ron was trying to modify his behavior around Hermione.

"Don't you live over the hill?" questioned Hermione, cutting off Ron's line of questioning, and inadvertently blocking Harry's curiosity as well. While Harry had been exchanging letters with the eccentric girl over the course of the past few days, he'd yet to find out what some of her creatures actually were.

"Yup," Luna replied happily, as she dug into the pile of eggs before her. The Weasley family was so large that the table was set up like a buffet, so everyone could make their own plates without waiting in lines or anything like that. When Luna saw Harry, her smile brightened and she said, "Hi Harry! When I found out you were here, I had to come over."

The fact that she was contradicting her earlier reasons for coming over didn't seem to trouble her, though Ginny began scrutinizing her blonde friend with a more frigid gaze than she was sporting previously. It seemed that she perceived Luna as competition in her doomed quest of wooing Harry. This made the raven haired wizard grin almost evilly. There was so much material for pranking right before his eyes that he simply couldn't resist poking the metaphorical bear with a stick.

Purposefully refraining from looking even remotely in Ginny's direction, Harry said, "Luna, you never replied to my last letter. I was starting to get worried about-"

But there was a large explosion at the other side of the table, sending fried potatoes, pieces of waffles, and trace amounts of orange juice flying through the air. All conversation immediately stopped as everyone's eyes came to rest at the two most likeliest suspects, Twin B and Twin 2.

Both proceeded to shamelessly point their fingers at the other and say in their usual synchronous voices, "He did it." Their immediate denial basically showed that they were both guilty, painting a large red target on their foreheads. As Mrs. Weasley began puffing up, similar to the girl in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory except red rather than blue, and took in a shuddering breath to reprimand them loudly.

Unfortunately, her legendary lecture was put on hold as soon as Luna, Ginny, Bill, Charlie, and Tonks all started laughing uproariously, though each for different reasons. Tonks was laughing at the sheer audacity and courage it took for them to be able to deny that with a straight face, Ginny was laughing because her brothers were about to be horribly punished and she's a total witch like that, Bill because they somehow managed to get the eggs to stick perfectly to the ceiling, Charlie because the explosion made everyone at the table but him jump (due to his close proximity to dragons for a profession), and Luna was laughing because of Ron's horror struck face at wasted food. It was a surreal spectacle.

Fred and George looked sheepish, Hermione and Percy seemed to be teetering between amused and bemused, and Arthur sighed in resignation. "Um..." began Arthur, hoping to rekindle the conversations that were lost in the brief pandemonium, "What exactly is a microprocessor, Harry?" About to explain that he honestly had no clue what a microprocessor was other than that it helped make computers more awesome, Harry was saved from embarrassing himself by Errol the owl running smack dab into the center of their closed window. And then Harry began laughing at the insanity of the situation. This was why he didn't stay at the Dursley home any longer than necessary.

But then Mrs. Weasley said, "Oh, and that reminds me, we're throwing your birthday party today at Florean Fortescue's in Diagon Alley..."

Harry sighed. At least he'd be able to go shopping for school supplies beforehand.  
_

It seemed that word of the Boy-Who-Lived's presence in the alley somehow preceded them, and they were slowly attracting a crowd of admirers for the celebrity. Many girls in his age group were batting their eyes, giggling, and winking at him, to which he responded with a small smile. He didn't really need to do all that much to have them squealing for his autograph, though he probably wouldn't ever start giving those out.

Their party, consisting of Harry himself, Hermione, his two auror bodyguards, and the Weasley family, were completely stopped when a brunette girl who appeared to also be a first year glomped him and said, "I'm Romilida Vane, and I hope to see you a bunch this year at Hogwarts!" before quickly kissing him on the cheek and darting back into the ever growing crowd. Harry was flattered by the attention, but starting to get annoyed. Their progress through the alley was slowing considerably, and Romilida's display gave other girls the nerve to also give him physical affections.

And they hadn't even gotten to the first store yet.

He briefly thought about using his newly unlocked yet unpracticed metamorphmagus abilities to hide from all the fan-girls, but didn't want Dumbledore to even suspect their existence yet. Resigning himself to the fact, Harry sighed and lead the group to Flourish and Blotts to buy his school books, and hopefully some extracurricular reading material. He doubted that there would be anything of interest to him in the Ministry approved shop, especially considering the enormous haul that he got from the Potter family vaults a few days earlier, but thought he'd look anyway.

He entered the shop and immediately went to the student section, to get the boring parts over with first. Everyone broke off into small groups to get what they needed, with Hermione and Ron ending up in his group while Tonks and Shackelbolt shadowed them. "Oh look, a book about Quidditch!" exclaimed Ron as he immediately abandoned the other two to go off on his own, which only resulted in one eye roll from the bushy haired witch. She must've been in a really good mood.

Shaking his head at Ron's one track mind, Harry turned to Hermione and asked, "So is there anything in here that's caught your interest, other than the books we're supposed to get?" While he said this, he gestured towards the shelf that was clearly labeled, 'Fourth Years' that had prepackaged bundles of all the core classes's books. It looked like the books were bound together by plastic wrapping paper, but the wizarding world didn't really use plastic all that much, and it made Harry very curious as to what the material might be.

She smiled and said, "I was actually thinking about buying a book on becoming an animagus. I actually started thinking about it last year after we first discovered that Sirius was, but I kinda forgot because... well, that night _was_ pretty hectic."

Harry snorted at her understatement and replied, "If 'pretty hectic' is how you'd describe that night, I can't wait to hear what you call the next time. I think 'horribly adventurous' might-" She whacked him upside the head with a bundle of books, and they both laughed lightly. "In all seriousness, I think that's a good idea. Adding that I'm an animagus to my resume should make it pretty easy to get a job after school," he said, still joking.

Hermione blinked at his comment and said, "What kind of job would require something like that?"

Harry shrugged and answered with a question of his own, "What kind of jobs are there in the magical economy?"

She looked affronted and said, "There's lots of choices. You could be an auror, or a mediwizard, or a hitwizard, or a politician, or a... you know what, I don't think I know what kind of jobs are out there either. You'd think we'd learn something like that at Hogwarts, wouldn't you? I guess it hasn't really come up yet..." Harry didn't want to tell her that he didn't think it would likely ever come up in school, mostly because he wasn't sure how she'd react to that. "I guess I'll have to read some more books," she said as she turned and went off on her own.

Harry sighed at having yet another of his friends wandering off, though more for show than anything else. He honestly didn't care all too much about them going off on their own because they were their own people, and he could still see them so they weren't really that far away. It was a far cry from how he would've acted only a few weeks ago. His social maturity was certainly developing now that he was immortal.

He chuckled to himself at that. Now that he essentially had eternity to grow up, he was growing faster than when he was under the time constraint of mortality. Shackelbolt raised an eyebrow at Tonks, silently asking if she knew what he was laughing about. She shrugged her shoulders and they continued the mind bogglingly boring job of following Harry Potter around.

Harry was checking over the shelves for any books on wizarding jobs or becoming an animagus when, he accidentally bumped into Romilida Vane again. "Oh Harry, I didn't expect to see you again," said the brunette. The way she said that sounded remarkably rehearsed, which led Harry to correctly assume that she was lying through her teeth, but likely doing it out of infatuation rather than some unknown nefarious plot. Though knowing girls... Harry repressed a shudder and smiled back, though it was obviously forced. How did people always seem to know where he was at any given time?

"Its good to see you Romilida. However, I do have a rather busy schedule and should stick to it, so I'll be seeing you," he said before turning and walking off. He heard her carry the conversation on sarcastically behind him, but didn't catch the words. He imagined they were something along the lines of, 'Thank you for kissing my cheek earlier Romilida. Oh no problem Harry, but you can make it up to me by inviting me to your party at Florean Fortescue's...' He felt some guilt over his curt response, but common sense told him to stay away from her.

_"You should stay away from her," _said Equinox. Okay, common sense and Equinox were both telling him to keep his distance from her. Harry began browing through the 'Advanced' section of the store, and was fairly disappointed at how little they had to offer actually caught his attention. The only title that stood out to him was, 'Animagi: How To Become One' which he immediately grabbed and placed on top of his Fourth Year bundle of books.

Molly saw that he was finished shopping and said, "If you give those to me, I'll stand in line and purchase them for you so you can go on to the next shop if you want." He smiled and nodded courteously to the woman who was so kindly offering to help him out, and who was giving him a place to sleep during the summer, and was checking him out...

His smile took on a forced quality for the umpteenth time as he caught his friend's unattractive mother eyeing him like a piece of meat, though he idly noted that she was at least trying to be surreptitious about her unscrupulous behavior. He handed Mrs. Weasley the books and, as Harry was leaving the store, he bumped into yet another girl, though this was one he actually knew.

Hannah Abbot, the longtime best friend of his recently acquired pen pal Susan Bones, squeaked once she realized who he was, and said, "I'm-sorry-I-ran-into-you!" before darting into the store. He didn't know whether to be amused or bemused, but decided to go with the flow.

He called back to her, "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been in your way. Well, hopefully I'll see you again Hannah!" He couldn't tell whether she heard his shout or not. Since she didn't respond, he continued leaving the store and entered the next shop on the list, Quality Quidditch Supplies. In the street he caught sight of a blond haired boy and his parents looking snootily right at him.

_"Oh great, the Adams Family," _mocked Equinox silently. The only way Harry displayed his amusement was by blinking once. It wouldn't do to be seen smiling in the general direction of this family.

"Well, if it isn't the famous Harry Potter," drawled the boy.

"We meet again, Draco. I've been expecting you," said Harry, in his best impersonation of a cheesy movie villain. Both Lucius and Narcissa blinked at Harry's strangely familiar form of address for their son, and the Boy-Who-Lived finally laid his eyes on Mrs. Malfoy. "Holy crap you're a MILF," said Harry, pointing accusingly at the beautiful woman. "How can you look so fantastic and be a real person?" he said, acting as if he momentarily forgot the group of people in front of him existed and that he was merely musing aloud.

Somewhere in France, a beautiful young witch from Beauxbatons sneezed while she was lying on her own private beach, nude.

While Narcissa didn't know what a MILF was, it was obviously a compliment from his tone and following words. The beautiful blonde blushed brilliantly at the blunt honesty with which the young man before her spoke. Harry smiled up at her, his eyes twinkling mischievously as he released a hundredth of his tightly bottled magical allure. Immediately, all females on the street felt their eyes straying towards him, and the woman before him began blushing even more. Tonks practically creamed herself on the spot, mostly because he'd never actually had to use his allure on her before.

But then Hermione finally exited the bookshop with Ron in tow, and all their purchased books safely tucked into an ever-expanding shopping bag. The two hesitated upon coming across an apparent standoff between Harry and what appeared to be the entire Malfoy family, but then Ron decided to butt in, "Hey you stupid snakes, stay away from Harry!" And upon that statement, his 'spell' over Narcissa was broken and she quietly tugged on Lucius's sleeve.

The man's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly as he gave a tiny nod and said, "Come Draco, we're leaving." The boy looked about ready to whine, but a quick glance from his father instantaneously silenced the petulant child.

"What was that about?" asked Hermione.

Ron immediately said, "They were trying to intimidate Harry. But it won't work with his friends around. And I- ooooohhhhh the Firebolt 360 is out now!" And just like that, the redhead immediately ran off to the Quidditch Supply shop, leaving his two friends behind.

In a final parting shot, Draco said, "Like that weasle could ever afford-" but with the telltale crack of apparition, the platinum haired family was gone.

Harry chuckled slightly as he began following in Ron's excited wake, when he bumped into Romilida Vane. Again. "Hi Harry!" exclaimed the stereotypical brunette, "I was wondering... would you like to get some ice cream with me?" She was batting her eyes and pouting her lips, but not really getting the sultry look down. She looked more like she was about to have an epileptic fit, but Harry didn't think that was something he should say to her.

"Ah, Romilida... well you see, the thing is... um... that I'm not..." but he was saved from having to answer her when he spotted the advertisement for the Firebolt 360. "I finally found you!" he wildly exclaimed, knowing that Romilida was sure to get the hint from such an erratic change of discussion topic. "I think I'll buy you right now." He walked over, threw open the doors to the store like he owned the place, and yelled, "UP MOTHERF*CKER!" The broom of his choice immediately jumped right into his outstretched hand. "I think I'll name you, though I don't know what that should be," he said, acting completely oblivious to the now fuming Romilida Vane.

"That'll be thirteen hundred galleons," said the store clerk breathlessly, not even trying to hide the awe that he felt. Everyone was staring either in awe or bewilderment at Harry's... _unique_ entrance, but nobody would likely say anything about the celebrity's uncouth behavior.

Harry said, "Put it on my tab," as walked out the front door in much the same manner. Romilida Vane stood stock still, not quite sure what just happened. Did he just ignore her, or was he naturally that passionate about flying? She decided it must be the latter since no boy had ever blatantly ignored her before, even if this was a wealthy, handsome, intelligent, athletic, famous boy. She began softly cooing about how sensitive Harry must be for his attention to shift so suddenly from her beauty to something as artistic as flying. He would be hers!

Meanwhile Harry, completely oblivious to Romilida's internal pep talk and rationalization of her crush, was making idle conversation with Equinox as he approached Tonks with a gaping Hermione and furious Ron following behind him. "Where to next?" was his simple question.

"Well, we haven't gotten you fitted for robes yet, so let's go to Madam Malkin's," said the metamorphmagus. Harry nodded and they made their way to the clothes store. There were still gangs of girls following them, but none were hugging and kissing him like earlier. It was quite a relief, though Hogwarts would likely be hellish once mistletoe starts getting hung throughout the castle.

They entered without much incident, and Harry was told to sit on a stool between a cute blonde witch and a rather pudgy boy. "Hello, I'm Daphne Greengrass. Its nice to meet you," she said amicably. He looked over at her, wondering whether she would pretend that they hadn't been exchanging correspondence for the past week or so. She was already acting much less cold towards him than she'd been coming off as for the past three years of him knowing her, but that could also be because he was actually, you know, attractive now.

Harry smiled back and said, "Harry Potter, and likewise." She didn't go all doe eyed like Hannah or starstruck like Romilida, which earned her quite a few points in Harry's book. He knew she was already in Slytherin and consequently exposed to all the drivel that Draco preached, but maybe... He noticed the boy looking uncomfortable, so he said, "Hello, Neville. Are your parents here?"

_"Dude, his parents are insane due to overexposure to the Cruciatus Curse by the Lestranges after you ended Voldemort's Reign of Darkness. They're sitting in the St. Mungos ward for... well I can't remember which ward it is off the top of my head, but they're there, bro. You just asked a very callous question to a boy whose parents are in the magical equivalent of a psych ward," _said Equinox.

The boy mumbled incoherently. Despite Harry having known Daphne for all of about ten seconds in real life, the two exchanged a glance. She nearly giggled at how audacious Harry was at social things, but knew that that wasn't proper behavior for a pureblood noblewoman, so she had to content herself with an amused twitch to her mouth. Harry just frowned.

One of the workers that were measuring them poked Harry in the arm with her needle, as a way to tell him to basically shut up. "Ow..." was the only reaction he gave, a mild one considering the mouth he could get when annoyed. He honestly couldn't really complain all that much, since he'd just put his foot in his mouth, figuratively.

Before they could reply, Harry's tailor smiled up at him and said, "You're ready to go Mr. Potter." Upon seeing the confused look on everyone's face, she shrugged, "He's much easier to measure than you two, plus I'm faster than these two dolts." This comment got playful swats from her coworkers but everything seemed fine. "So, I'm guessing you want these in black?" she asked sarcastically.

Harry smiled and said, "Yes."  
_

Harry would've gone straight to Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor right after shopping, but the sign to Lianshang Alley caught his attention. Realizing that he hadn't talked to his In-Laws in a few days, he decided to visit them and apologize for his silence. Telling the rest of the group to continue without him, he went off to see the Chang family.

Within minutes he was walking through the colorful and crowded streets of the Chinese district, letting his mind wander as he was surrounded by his auror bodyguards and the weird militia regiment that always followed guests around. It was still in the early stages, but he felt he was making great progress on several fronts.

Soon he was standing outside of the Chang compound again, and Su Li smiled, saying, "Please follow me inside. This is an unexpected visit by the way. Its proper social etiquette to call ahead before you arrive, but I guess you wouldn't know that growing up with muggles. Its funny how I know more about the wizarding world than you do, yet you have far more power than I ever will. Please wait here while I alert the family to your presence." He nodded toward the chatty servant and allowed a small smile to appear on his face. She was certainly a charming girl. He would have to keep her in mind...

Mr. Chang came out of a nearby doorway and said, "Harry, isn't this a surprise? What are you doing here?" Harry could see the obvious excitement in the man's face, and his small smile began to grow a tiny bit.

"I'm here to get to know my future fiance. While I'm waiting for Cho, tell me, how are you doing?" Harry tilted his head to the side, allowing an expression of polite curiosity to show up. He was curious, but didn't like asking invasive questions if he could help it.

"Well, I've been thinking about placing a bet on Ireland winning the Quidditch World Cup, but Viktor Krum is a very powerful player in the game," said Mr. Chang. "I assume that you're going to the Finals as well?" he asked.

Harry smiled and said, "Of course. I'm actually going to be in the top box with the Weasley family. Apparently Arthur can get favors like that if he only asks for something occasionally."

"Oh, we'll be up in the top box as well. I look forward to seeing you. Did you know that the ministers of France and Bulgaria will be in attendance, to show that Britain is actually capable of international cooperation? I never thought I'd see the day that we join France in anything other than war," said Jian Chang.

Harry was about to reply when Cho came out of the same doorway and said, "Hi Harry. Have you been waiting for me long?" Harry could only nod when he saw her. His ability to articulate thoughts and several other higher functions of the brain were temporarily shut down upon seeing her. Maybe it was because White guys tend to like Asian girls, or maybe she was wearing enchanted perfume, but he was practically broken upon seeing her. "Would you accompany me to my room? We could get to know each other a lot better in private."

Harry's undead heart began beating really, really hard.

Mr. Chang smirked and said, "Okay you two, have fun. Just don't do anything that you'd regret me walking in on, alright?" The two teens nodded in embarrassment and made their way to her room. As they walked, Harry admired even more terracotta sculptures, porcelain vases and pots, gold and jade jewelry, and tapestries of accromantula silk. Before long, they were inside a spacious and elegantly furnished room. And there was a random peacock that was walking around, but Harry wasn't sure how to react to that.

"This is my bedroom. What do you think?" she asked curiously. All of her furniture was of ivory or stained glass, and the whole place was immaculate.

Grinning, Harry said, "Its quite the place. Sorry I didn't contact you earlier, I just thought it would be better to converse in person about some of the things we need to talk about."

As he said this, Cho nodded and pressed a button on her wall, which lowered privacy wards over her whole room. "Alright Harry, I've got a few questions to ask you. Why did you come back, how did you come back, and why did you come back? I think that about covers everything that I want to discuss for now," she said, staring intently at him.

He blinked and said, "Come back from where?"

Cho just stared at him and said, "You mean that you aren't... never mind. Um, Harry, I've got a companion... from the future... sort of..."

"What?" asked Harry, wondering if this had anything to do with Equinox. If it did, he truly had no clue what to do. A spontaneous immolation of pearlescent flames exploded into existence in midair, right in the center of the room, before condensing down and coalescing into the bright shape of a white phoenix.

"Take it away, Solstice," said Cho.

_"You see... well, after you became the Master of Death in the original timeline, and by original, I mean the progenitor universe's timeline, you began working towards a single goal: to reach the Akashic Records in the Root of the World. You wanted the ultimate power... and you eventually succeeded,"_ said the moonlit avian, in a vaguely female voice.

"I did what now?" asked Harry, not expecting any of this at all.

_"You reached the center of the omniverse, and made it your throne. You had ultimate power, capable of rewriting existing worlds and creating entire new ones however you saw fit. But one of your mental partitions, Equinox, began to grow bored of that. And so he broke free, escaping into the nether that exists between worlds, the phantasmagoria of the Primordial Daedra. I don't know exactly what happened to it while in the void worlds, but it came out completely different,"_ said the phantasmal bird.

"Different how?" asked Harry cautiously, all the while wondering whether to trust Cho's equivalent of Equinox, who was dumping a lot of information on him at once, or Equinox, who did something very similar only a few days earlier.

_"He began creating powerful versions of you, Harry Potter, in multiple alternate worlds, and began having them fight to the death in front of him for amusement,"_ Solstice said, still without an ounce of joking about her.

"That... doesn't really sound like something I'd do," said Harry.

_"Well, he was a bit distorted when I saw him last. But the important thing is how he went about doing this. He began searching for suitable candidates; versions of him with the potential to be nearly on par with him, or even surpass him. His existence, is outside time because he's still loosely connected to that original version of you, which is how Equinox can rewrite existence by simply appearing in a universe,"_ the phoenix said.

"I don't follow," he said.

"If time travel existed in a universe, all temporal transit would already be a part of the timeline, because the timeline is actually a cyclical causal network rather than a linear causal chain of reactions. When the universe ends, it condenses into an infinitesimal speck of unfathomable energy and heat, before the bonds at work are broken and a Big Bang occurs, forcing the exact same universe into existence to follow the exact same pattern over and over and over again. This exact moment in time has happened an infinite number of times already, and will happen an infinite number of times in the future," said Cho.

"You're reinforcing all those stereotypes about Asians on purpose right now, aren't you?" asked Harry.

She smiled sweetly but Solstice cut her off, _"Yet, interuniversal travel from entities such as that Harry's mental partitions are capable of entering a world and changing something. That single difference sets the universe on its head. Think about it: how could a perfect, unbroken cycle of consecutively congruent universes continue existing if a random stage of the cycle is significantly altered by outside forces? The cycle becomes unstable and either adapts or collapses after a certain amount of stress. Equinox is currently in this universe, and the more he changes, the more likely that this universe will be torn apart and cease to exist completely."_

"How is that any different that the universe ending naturally, from my perspective?" asked Harry, playing along with her frightening scenario now that she mentioned Equinox. Nobody else knew the importance of his black familiar, so it was entirely likely that she was telling the truth.

"It won't be any different, other than the fact that you'll cease to exist; no afterlife for you," said Cho.

"Why doesn't the original Harry fix this, since he started it?" asked Harry in annoyance, so much so that the seals on his stomach began itching slightly. His vampirism was stirring.

_"If I had to guess, I think that his other duties are keeping him busy,"_ Solstice said lightly.

"What's he gotta do; basically play Civ 5 but with actual civilizations?" asked Harry. (The author knows that this videogame wasn't out in 1994, he just doesn't really care anymore:)

She grinned and asked, "You have no clue what you're talking about, do you?" At his sputtering response, she began giggling. He chuckled along with her, and found himself immensely pleased when her hand unnecessarily touched his arm. Her laughter made him feel oddly warm inside, and he felt like he could cast any spell several hundred times easily while in her presence. He wondered if that was what Equinox Harry meant by love being powerful. Of course he wasn't in love, but the feeling of attraction did make him contemplate such things.

"I'm fourteen years old, I don't even really know who I am. The fact that another sentient being claiming to be me from the future is also inside me just makes things even more confusing. Do I have a mental disorder, or did I go back in time and end up inside myself. The mental disorder scenario seems more plausible at first, but then I began learning magic from him... now I believe that he really is me, just a more moral version of myself. Or maybe I'm a less moral version of him. Semantics."

She laughed and said, "Alright, you've made your point Mr. Potter," before getting more serious and saying, "but what are we gonna do about Equinox?"

"I guess I've gotta get strong really fast, so we can leave before he destabilizes reality. How long do you think he can safely stay for anyway?" asked Harry.

_"A century,_" said Solstice._ "But with my added presence, half that."_

"Dude, that's so much time! And you had me worrying that I'd have like a week or two," said Harry in an accusatory tone. "But I actually originally came here to talk to you about our marriage, and personally invite you to my birthday party, which is actually supposed to start five minutes ago, so we should probably head to Florean Fortescue's as we speak," he said happily.

"What of our marriage?" asked Cho as Solstice disappeared in another flash of white flames, filling Cho with warmth. After all, it was her alternate self's mental partition after all.

He appraised her before saying, "What do you know of the wizarding government?"

"Basically that there are two branches to Britain's government; the executive Ministry, and legislative and judicial Wizengammot. The Ministry is headed by the Minister, who is elected by the Wizengammot. The Minister chooses who the Department Heads are, and they carry out smaller tasks. The Wizengammot is half made up of elected representatives and half heads of noble houses, and they act as both the legislative and judicial body," answered Cho.

"Correct. Since the Wizengammot chooses who runs the Ministry, the former has more power than the latter. If I want to cause a political coup, I'll need to start with the Wizengammot. There are basically three major political factions: Conservative, Moderate, and Reformist. The Conservatives are what we'd consider the dark families, firm upholders of blood purity, racism and sexism, homophobia and xenophobia. The Reformists are what we'd consider light families, people like the Longbottoms, Weasleys, and Potters. Moderates are somewhere between. I myself am a radical reformist, though that comes in later."

"So far, I think I've successfully convinced Daphne Greengrass, and through her Tracey Davis and Blaise Zabini, to head to at least consider my side of future conflicts. They will be easier to influence into siding with the Reformists once they take their seats in the Wizengammot. When I get your family and four others of your father's choosing to join the Wizengammot, they will likely support the Reformists. If you can't tell, I'm planning on using the Reformists to be my platform of power, much the same way that Voldemort used the Conservatives."

"Okay, but it sounds like you're giving power to Dumbledore supporters for now. Why are you giving one of your enemies power?" asked Cho. She scooted a bit closer to him, and he noticed her pupils dilating. Adrenaline was suddenly rushing through her veins, but he didn't know why.

"Because Voldemort is the more immediate threat. Last time, the Death Eaters were treated as simple criminals. I plan to have them treated as revolutionaries and have their rights as British citizens revoked. With little political clout and economic capital, Voldmort's supporters will easily fall. But during the war, I'm going to point out Dumbledore's terrible leadership. He's got three of the most time consuming jobs there are, and will begin making mistakes with the Wizengammot, Ministry, International Confederation, Board of Governors, and even Gringotts if we play our cards right."

"Alright, so once you've beaten Dumbledore and Voldemort, then what? What happens after the fact? It almost sounds like you're trying to create anarchy," breathed Cho. She was now just inches away from him, whispering as she got even closer. He gulped.

"Well that's because I am, in a sense. I plan to take over, plain and simple."

"I still don't see what this has to do with our marriage," said Cho quietly.

"A union with your family will bring more support to the Reformists, hopefully it will also help them avoid Voldemort's wrath and subsequent slaughter, and there's also you..."

"...Me?" she whispered, barely disguised elation twisting its way into her soft voice. "What about me?"

He offered a small smile and said, "You're very beautiful, smart, cute, loyal, sexy, brave, hot, and cunning. Have I mentioned that you're attractive?" She playfully swatted his arm as she blushed, but he continued, "We need each other to get through this. Both of us are influence by things that have yet to happen, both of us need somebody to offer us an ear that can understand our situation, and both of us could use companionship. Am I right?"

She smiled and said, "You are," before planting a soft kiss on his cheek. Both teens blushed. Harry decided to kiss her cheek in response, but accidentally got the corner of her mouth. He felt his face heating up as he realized what he just did, but she didn't seem to mind. In fact, her eyes started twinkling mischievously as she leaned closer to him.

He didn't know what to do. Equinox, even if he was also a walking apocalypse, never covered how to be romantic! With Tonks it was more carnal pleasures than anything else, and he didn't have any other kind of experience to draw from at the moment.

He watched in mounting panic as she came closer, her eyes closed. Her lips started to pucker expectantly as Harry realized there wasn't anything he could do but to kiss her. And it wasn't like he didn't want to, in fact he very much would like to. But- And then all thoughts stopped as their lips brushed lightly against each other. At this point he realized that he had no clue what to do with his hands, which were just awkwardly hanging limply by his side. Deciding to test something, he placed his hands gently on her waist. At that moment she pulled away and looked at him with even more wiliness than before.

Realizing he didn't know what to do at the moment, "That wasn't what I expected when I originally set out to talk to you, but it was still a rather enjoyable experience," was the first thing Harry could say a few minutes later. She laughed merrily and flicked his nose, surprising him.

"Harry, you need to learn how to talk to girls. Especially after a first kiss as intense as that?" She stuck her tongue out when she completed her jest, making her just look even cuter than before to Harry. Deciding not to comment on such an obvious trap, he pulled her back into his arms and started kissing her some more. She sighed in contentment and they stayed that way for another ten minutes.

* * *

**A/N: Bless your face. And if you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Worship the Log! I'm out.**


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